The Minnesota Vikings have spent a great deal of the offseason working on their quarterback position for the future. After Kirk Cousins left for the Atlanta Falcons, the Vikings immediately went into action to prepare for the present and the future at the position via the 2024 NFL draft.
One of the first things the Vikings did was make a trade to get an extra first-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft by working a deal with the Houston Texans.
In the trade, the Vikings acquired the No. 23 overall pick in the first round and the No. 232 selection (seventh round). The Texans get No. 42 overall (second round), No. 188 (sixth round), and a second-round pick in 2025.
This means the Vikings have the No. 11 and No. 23 overall picks. Minnesota could stay put and hope one of the top four quarterbacks falls to them. Obviously Caleb Williams will be off the board to the Chicago Bears but it’s anyone’s best guess as to what order Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels and J.J. McCarthy will come off the board. However, it’s safe to assume the Vikings would be taking a huge risk not trading up.
So how high would Minnesota have to move up? Most pundits assume quarterbacks are going to go 1,2,3. So for Minnesota, if they want one of those quarterbacks, the price is going to be very high. So let’s look at a scenario that would land the Vikings the fourth quarterback, who we expect to see either Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy or North Carolina’s Drake Maye.
The Arizona Cardinals hold the No. 4 overall pick and the Los Angeles Chargers have the No. 5 overall pick. Neither team will target a quarterback but Minnesota has to think the New York Giants are in the mix for a quarterback but this is more about getting ahead of the New York Jets and outpacing the Denver Broncos who are also in the market for a quarterback.
That’s why for this scenario we look to the Chargers. They could drop back to No. 11 and still be in the mix for a top skill player so let’s go to the old trade value chart and see how this would work.
The value of the No. 5 overall pick is 1700. The value of the Vikings No. 11 pick is 1250 and the No. 23 pick is 760. That gives them a combined value of 2010 which would be more than enough to work the deal on paper and probably get the Chargers to throw in a fifth or sixth round pick as well.
If we were the Vikings, we would not trade up with Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. both making serious pushes to be selected in the first round.
