The Vikings added more drama to the NFL draft a month before teams head to Detroit for the big night, and they’re likely to offer teams like the New England Patriots a huge haul of picks.
Minnesota on Friday acquired the No. 23 and No. 232 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft from the Houston Texans in exchange for the No. 42 and No. 188 selections, plus a future pick.
The Vikings are expected to be aggressive and try to draft one of the top four quarterbacks in the draft after losing Kirk Cousins to the Atlanta Falcons and only signing Sam Darnold to a one-year deal. There’s a “strong expectation” that quarterbacks quickly go off the board, so it would behoove Minnesota to get its guy, who could be Drake Maye given his connections to the franchise.
New England likely will be a team the Vikings contact, and they reportedly already made contact to move up to No. 3. The Patriots set themselves up to take a quarterback after only signing Jacoby Brissett this offseason, but de facto general manager and director of scouting Eliot Wolf also reportedly wants to acquire more draft picks to help the franchise address multiple needs outside of QB.
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Daniel Jeremiah admitted in a conference call last month he’d take a quarterback if he had control of the No. 3 pick, and he said on the Senior Bowl broadcast that he’d be “stunned” if the Patriots don’t go in that direction. He reiterated those points Friday.
“New England to me feels stuck,” Jeremiah told Zach Gelb of CBS Sports Radio. “They are taking one. Everything that I’ve heard seems to be they are committed to staying at three. They wanted an $8-$10 million quarterback. They got that in Jacoby Brissett, and they are going to take the guy of the future there at No. 3.”
The NFL draft analyst believed the Commanders are “more likely” to listen to the Vikings about a trade since he thinks they’d be more enticed to acquire a huge haul of draft picks. However, he thought the Maye still was in play for Washington. He also noted offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury could be confident enough with the other quarterbacks outside of the top three and could work with them.
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If the Vikings moved up to No. 2 and if Maye is their guy, that would secure Jayden Daniels for the Patriots. However, if Washington refuses to budge, then New England will have to wait and see which quarterback the Commanders prefer between Maye and Daniels.
Featured image via Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports Images
