The Minnesota Vikings have been talked about as a team to potentially trade up for a quarterback in the 2023 NFL draft. It makes complete sense since Kirk Cousins is going to be a free agent after 2023 and there is no identified quarterback of the future.
The Draft Network’s Jaime Eisner has heard rumblings that the Vikings are very active in trying to trade up for a quarterback.
Surprise! You may have seen the betting odds change for the No. 2 overall pick on Saturday, with Will Levis becoming the odds-on favorite. But I don’t think that’s because the Texans are taking him. I’ve heard loud rumblings that Minnesota is very active in trying to trade up for a quarterback and I think they will pull off a blockbuster.
That’s something we haven’t heard yet. There has been speculation, but nobody has outright said that the Vikings are actively trying to move up for a quarterback. This will be something to monitor over the next few days leading into day one.
There is one catch for the Vikings trying to trade up into the top five: a team needs to be willing to move down to 23rd overall.
That’s not something you see all the time. The Browns traded down from six to 27 with the Falcons in 2011 and the Bills traded down from 10 to 27 with the Chiefs in 2017. Those picks were Julio Jones and Patrick Mahomes. Neither general manager who traded down lasted in their job very long afterward.
Getting a team to pass on a potential blue-chip player to go down to 23rd overall is going to be a really hard sell. Teams don’t move out of the top 10 often and it’s significantly different to move down from 10 than it is from three.
