The Vikings Should Stick and Pick at No. 24
We are days away from the 2025 NFL draft, which will start with the first round on Thursday in Green Bay. There has been much speculation about whether Minnesota will pick in the first round this year. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and his team will reveal their plans come Thursday, and the Vikings’ rookie class of 2025 will take shape over the proceeding three days.
Vikings Should Stick and Pick at 24
There has been as much — if not more — talk of Minnesota trading down as there has been about the players the Vikings might be aiming for.
The reason is simple.
The paltry number of four draft picks is the lowest number of any team in this year’s draft. The expectation is that the Vikings GM will want to pick more than four times. The easy solution, looking in from the outside, is to trade down from 24. It’s not a solution I favor, at least in principle.
We don’t know how the board will fall on Thursday. If a player the Vikings really like looks like they will still be available to them after a trade back, then fair enough. The Vikings’ general manager should be ready to make a move.
However, turning down a player that could impact the Vikings in 2025 and beyond just for an extra pick or two over the next couple of days isn’t worth it. A first-round pick is a valuable commodity and should be treated as such. It’s where the good players are more likely to be found and comes with the fifth-year option on the player’s contract.
We only have to look back at the current Vikings GM’s first draft in 2022 to see how trading down can be a mistake. Minnesota had the chance to select Kyle Hamilton at 12 or even Trent McDuffie later in the first round — two defensive backs already have All-Pro honors. Instead, the Vikings traded down twice and selected Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth.
Both flopped massively and are no longer in Minnesota. Adofo-Mensah’s reputation is still recovering from those decisions. The most successful first-round pick to date for Adofo-Mensah is Jordan Addison – the one time he stuck to his draft position and selected a player.
Quality over Quantity
Most players drafted this week will never make much of an impact in the league – many will never even make it onto a team’s full roster. The most likely players to go on and have a notable career are those drafted in the first round. Of course, nothing is for sure, and first-round players flop while great players have come from every draft round. Every team hopes to find the hidden gems that are usually there in the draft, but it’s unlikely.
As the Vikings don’t have a selection in the second round, trying to recoup one there or early in the third does make sense, but I only like it if Minnesota can stay in the first. Trading down to get more picks isn’t the path, especially with that first-round pick. Adofo-Mensah can get creative later in the draft if he wants to add more picks on Day 3, including continuing to borrow from future drafts. I would much rather see that path taken.
Suppose there’s an exceptionally talented player within the Vikings’ grasp — like Kenneth Grant, Grey Zabel, Omarion Hampton, or Malaki Stark. They shouldn’t pass that opportunity to get an extra pick somewhere. We will soon see Adofo-Mensah’s ideas when all is revealed on Thursday.
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