The Minnesota Vikings’ offseason plans remain unknown to those outside TCO Performance Center, but that hasn’t stopped a plethora of suggestions and/or guesses at how a team that has an uncertain future at quarterback is going to address that issue.
Here is a list of four that range from ludicrous to plausible and a reaction to each. In each case, Kirk Cousins is likely to have departed in free agency.
Scenario 1: Vikings select Jayden Daniels at No. 2
The pick: QB Jayden Daniels, LSU
Projected mock draft move: Wil Helms of Pro Football Network has the Vikings making a trade with Washington for the second pick in the draft. The Commanders get the 11th (first round), 42nd (second round) and 155th pick (fifth round) in this year’s draft, plus the Vikings’ first- and third-round selections in 2025.
The reaction: I have serious doubts about whether Washington would do this, but if this was the price to get one of the top three quarterbacks, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah should make the trade immediately. Yes, it’s a lot to give up, but if the Vikings are convinced Daniels can be their long-term starter, this seems like a fair price to pay. It also would put them in a spot to grab either USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye, depending on who goes first overall to Chicago.
Scenario 2: Vikings move back into first round to take J.J. McCarthy
The pick: J.J. McCarthy, Michigan
Projected mock draft move: Josh Edwards of CBS Sports has the Vikings taking Florida State edge rusher Jared Verse with the 11th pick, then making a deal with Arizona for the 27th selection and taking McCarthy. Edwards does not have what the Cardinals would get in return, but when the Vikings made a deal with Seattle to get the 32nd pick in the 2014 draft, enabling them to select quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, they sent second- (No. 40) and fourth-round (No. 108) picks to the Seahawks.
The reaction: This makes a lot of sense, given that taking McCarthy in the first round would mean the Vikings get the fifth-year option on his contract. There’s debate about where McCarthy will be selected in this draft and things likely will change with the NFL Scouting Combine and Pro Days still to be held. If you want to use the Bridgewater trade as a starting point, the Vikings would send the Cardinals their second- (42nd overall) and fourth-round (108th overall) selections.
Scenario 3: Vikings get Jayden Daniels, but the price to move up is way too high
The pick: Jayden Daniels, LSU
Projected move: Fox Sports’ talk-show host Colin Cowherd proposes the Vikings acquire the No. 3 pick from New England in exchange for wide receiver Justin Jefferson, the No. 11 pick and a 2025 first-rounder.
The reaction: Everyone is entitled to their opinion and Cowherd certainly has plenty of them, but this one is a non-starter. We’re guessing the pick would be Daniels because many are projecting Williams and Maye will go with the first two choices. Nothing against Daniels, but it’s far more likely the Vikings are going to sign Jefferson to a massive contract extension this offseason than they are going to look to move him. And if Jefferson was going to be traded, the Vikings aren’t going to send two first-round picks with him to the Patriots. The Vikings want their next quarterback to spend a large portion of his career throwing the ball to Jefferson and not watching highlights of the star wide receiver wearing a Patriots uniform.
Scenario 4: This mock draft doesn't have Vikings moving up but it should
The pick: Drake Maye, North Carolina
Projected mock draft move: NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein has Maye falling to the fifth pick, where he’s taken by the Atlanta Falcons after a trade is made with the Los Angeles Chargers to move up from the eighth selection.
The reaction: Maye is beginning to fall in some mocks, even though we aren’t yet to the combine, but having him go fifth-overall would present a very interesting situation on draft night. It makes sense that the Falcons would go up three spots to get Maye — at least for now. If Cousins leaves the Vikings, the Falcons make a ton of sense for him. It would then make sense for the Vikings to try to move up on draft night to select Maye by exchanging first-round picks with the Chargers and sending them other draft pieces. It wouldn’t be cheap, but it’s a small price to pay if you are solving your QB issue with a player on a rookie contract for five years.
