The Minnesota Vikings’ decision to ship a pair of second-round picks and a fifth-round selection to the Houston Texans in exchange for a package that includes the No. 23 overall pick in this year’s draft reveals a clear and bold strategy by general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
All signs point to the Vikings moving up for a quarterback.
There’s no reasonable other explanation for making a trade to acquire an additional first-round pick more than a month away from the NFL Draft getting underway.
Following the March 15 trade, the Vikings now own the following selections in the first four rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft:
Round 1: No. 11, No. 23
Round 4: No. 108
In a lot of ways, the Vikings have a roster with the weapons in place to make a legitimate charge at the NFC North division championship in 2024. Especially on offense, with playmaking wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, Minnesota recently signed dynamic running back Aaron Jones, and defensively, plucking Jonathan Greenard — one of the premier pass-rushers available was a total coup by Adofo-Mensah.
Signing Jones and Greenard are not moves that are made with sights set on investing two first-round picks into two prospects to begin a rebuild.
Neither is Sam Darnold a quarterback capable of guiding Minnesota, even with an electrifying cast of offensive weapons, back to the postseason.
Trading for additional draft capital signals that the Minnesota Vikings are going to try to land one of the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft class to drop into a ready-made and talented roster. This just might be the most effective way of both winning immediately with a young quarterback and the best method to hasten his development.
How Minnesota Vikings Can Move up
At this stage, it’s impossible to imagine the Chicago Bears selecting anyone other than Caleb Williams.
However, the Minnesota Vikings are now armed with plenty of draft capital to move into the top-four picks, well within reach of one of the top passers in this year’s class.
The Vikings’ own selection accounts for 1,250 points on the famous “Jimmy Johnson” draft value chart, while Minnesota’s newly-acquired pick from the Texans adds 760.
If Williams goes to the Bears, and the Washington Commanders select Jayden Daniels, whether the New England Patriots decide to trade for Justin Fields or select a quarterback will likely determine how high Adofo-Mensah must climb.
That’s because the Arizona Cardinals appear to be posturing to select Ohio State generational wide receiver prospect Marvin Harrison, and the Los Angeles Chargers would likely strongly prefer taking two players in the top-25 picks to surround Justin Herbert and rebuild the roster than one non-quarterback at No. 5.
The Chargers’ selection is worth 1,700 points, and there’s a possibility that either Drake Maye or J.J. McCarthy is still available at that point.
The Minnesota Vikings are laying the groundwork for a big move, to go and take a quarterback, which one they prefer could be telegraphed by how high they try to move up the board.
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