The Minnesota Vikings are wasting no time now that Kirk Cousins has officially left the building. Just four days after their former signal caller signed a four-year, $180 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the powers that be at TCO Performance Center are accumulating the assets necessary to trade up in the upcoming draft for their next franchise quarterback. On Friday morning, Minnesota and the Houston Texans pulled off the following trade.
Now armed with two first-round picks at 11th and 23rd overall, Minnesota is expected to pursue a trade up into the top five for one of the premier quarterbacks — Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels, or J.J. McCarthy — in this year’s draft class. Depending on which particular Skolider you ask, everyone seems to have a healthy amount of conviction behind which quarterback the Vikings should be going after in next month’s draft.
Oddly enough, I don’t have a strong feeling one way or another for any of the three non-Caleb Williams quarterbacks atop this class. That’s because my belief is rooted in the ecosystem the Vikings have built, which should theoretically allow this potential first-ever top-five quarterback pick in franchise history to succeed.
The natural pushback for this belief is to reflect on what transpired with the San Francisco 49ers and Trey Lance three years ago. General manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan essentially wasted three first-round picks after Lance couldn’t stay healthy, and Brock Purdy replaced him for the foreseeable future in 2022. While it’s never a good thing to lose so many top resources over three consecutive years, the Niners still unlocked the critical cheat code component that comes with a rookie-contract quarterback by way of Purdy. That allowed them to load up the rest of their (already stacked) roster with high-priced acquisitions in Christian McCaffrey and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave.
Circling back on Friday’s trade with the Texans, the various trade charts show that the Vikings overpaid to secure a second pick in the opening round of the draft. It remains to be seen if those same charts will disagree, yet again, if and when the Vikings make their grand swap into the top five.
Considering that all three teams atop the draft need a face-of-the-franchise quarterback, I find it extremely hard to believe that the Vikings will successfully trade up into the top-three. The Chicago Bears have already written “Caleb Williams” on their draft card and are waiting for when they’re officially on the clock come April 25 to hand it to Roger Goodell. The Washington Commanders traded away Sam Howell and allowed journeyman bridge quarterback Jacoby Brissett to walk in free agency and sign with the New England Patriots. And if there’s an argument to be made (spoiler alert: there isn’t) that Brissett could be the unapologetic guy in New England for a year, the same empty-calorie argument could be made about Sam Darnold leading the Vikings this season.
If the Vikings were to trade up to either the second- or third-overall pick, it would likely cost them both the 11th and 23rd picks this year, in addition to their 2025 first-rounder. Even if Adofo-Mensah and the Wilfs feel inclined to put said offer on the table to Washington and/or New England, I can’t imagine either team would be willing to forgo the opportunity to get their guy and dive head-first into the quarterback abyss for another year — especially when you consider that next year’s rookie quarterback class of Shedeur Sanders and Quinn Ewers pales in comparison to this one.
With the Arizona Cardinals already committed to Kyler Murray, would they be willing to pass up the opportunity to pair Murray with Marvin Harrison Jr. and trade down with the Vikings? Possibly, considering the depth of high-end receiver talent this class presents. But Harrison Jr. is regarded as one of the best receiver prospects in a while, and Arizona desperately needs difference-makers at their skill positions.
There’s a logical dance partner for the Vikings — the Los Angeles Chargers and their fifth-overall pick. On the surface, Minnesota likely wouldn’t be forced to include any 2025 draft capital to move up six spots. And a slight drop for new head coach Jim Harbaugh would give LA another top resource by way of an additional first-round pick to help expedite their version of competitively rebuilding. Not to mention that Harbaugh would probably prefer his prized and beloved former Michigan quarterback McCarthy go to the NFC with the Vikings instead of potentially staying within the division and trading down with the Las Vegas Raiders.
If I were a betting man (which, rest assured, I am strictly on the gambling episodes of The Cy Amundson Show), my money would be on the Vikings pulling off a trade into the top five with the Chargers and anointing McCarthy as its next franchise quarterback.
