The Minnesota Vikings and star wide receiver Justin Jefferson are still in the negotiation phase in hopes of not only keeping Jefferson in Minnesota but also making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. But according to Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, there was buzz at last month’s draft that the Vikings were actually eyeing Jefferson’s replacement.
In the scenario Walters mentions, Minnesota would have moved up from the No. 11 pick to the No. 5 pick, not to draft a quarterback but to select LSU’s Malik Nabers and then trade away Jefferson. The Vikings would’ve rolled with a pairing of Nabers and Jordan Addison.
Per Walters: “There was buzz at draft time that the Vikings wanted to move from No. 11 to No. 5, not to pick a QB but to get LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers, who was picked No. 6 by the Giants. Had that trade occurred, Jefferson would have been traded and Nabers would have been the No. 1 receiver.”
As we all know, the Vikings traded up one spot to select Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy. It seemed apparent the Vikings were targeting a QB all along, but this nugget from Walters would’ve been a major plot twist on draft night.
