What will the price be for the Vikings to get to No. 3?
The Vikings take a massive swing in a trade up to No. 3 in the latest beat writer mock draft from The Athletic.
In a move that would certainly send shockwaves across the sport, The Athletic's Alec Lewis and Chad Graff, who cover the Vikings and Patriots, respectively (and Graff used to cover the Vikings), put together a mock trade that sees the Vikings giving up picks 11 and 23 in this year's draft as well as a 2025 first-round pick AND and 2026 second-round pick for New England's No. 3 overall pick.
That is a haul and as Lewis put it "not for the faint of heart."
After giving up that much to move up that far, Lewis has the Vikings taking North Carolina QB Drake Maye. Lewis noted the deep connections between the Vikings and Maye, notably new Vikings QB coach Josh McCown helping coach Maye when he was in high school.
Lewis also noted that the Vikings have been scouting Maye for years.
But the most shocking part of the mock trade is the price the Vikings pay to move up to No. 3. Would it really cost that much? Three firsts and a second? Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer paints the picture that it could take a massive package of picks like Lewis laid out. Breer reported that teams that have called the Bears, Commanders and Patriots about trading for one of the top-three picks have been rebuffed with "polite no's."
“Any time we are talking about a franchise quarterback the price is going to be really high and it has great potential to be worth it," Purple Insider's Matthew Coller told Bring Me The Sports. "Nobody will ever regret adding one more draft pick to the pile if you find the guy you can build around for many years. The question is whether New England is actually willing to take any offer because they also know the value of having that type of franchise QB.”
Looking at recent mock drafts that have the Vikings moving up to No. 3, here's what they have as potential trade packages:
CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso said "The Vikings didn't make a move to get No. 23 overall to just sit on their hands now. They make a move -- and maybe even package a mid-rounder in 2025 -- to get this pick to land Maye."
Devin Jackson of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Dan Roche of NBC Sports Philadelphia have the Vikings packaging picks No. 11 and 23 with a 2025 third-rounder for the No. 3 pick. That seems like too little considering the 49ers traded three first-round picks and a third-rounder to take Trey Lance third overall in 2021.
Nate Davis of USA Today suggests it would take Nos. 11 and 23 plus "multiple mid-round picks in 2025" to seal the trade. Davis says the price is drawn down from the recent real-world trades because the Vikings can offer two first-round picks this season instead of future first-round picks.
