Inside The Vikings

Can Vikings Now Move Into Draft's Top 3 For Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels?

The Vikings are armed and dangerous heading into April's draft.

Will Ragatz

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The Vikings' big trade on Friday morning has them poised to make another big trade sometime between now and April 24th.

Minnesota acquired another first-round pick in this year's draft in a deal with the Texans. They sent two-second rounders — this year's at No. 42 overall and next year's — plus a late-round pick swap to Houston for the No. 23 overall pick. That means the Vikings currently have picks 11 and 23 in this year's draft, plus their 2025 first-rounder, as ammunition to trade up for a quarterback this year.

How high can they go?

The Vikings are presumably going to have conversations with every team picking in the top five, from the Bears at 1 to the Chargers at 5.

A deal with Chicago still seems highly unlikely, even though the Bears — unlike the other two teams projected to take a QB in the top three — haven't yet traded their incumbent starter. The Commanders moved Sam Howell and the Patriots moved Mac Jones, but Justin Fields is still on Chicago's roster at the moment. Nonetheless, the Bears probably don't want to hand Caleb Williams to a division rival, regardless of the price.

At 2, Washington is locked into drafting a QB after trading Howell to Seattle. Whether that's Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye is the big question. The Vikings could offer 11, 23, and next year's first to the Commanders, which would give them two firsts in each of the next two drafts. If Washington doesn't feel like there's a huge dropoff with Daniels, Maye, and J.J. McCarthy, maybe they'd accept that and then try to move back up? However, like Chicago, it feels like the Commanders will want to stay where they are and get their guy.

The Patriots at 3 feel like the most intriguing potential trade partner. They have a big need a QB as well, but as they begin the post-Belichick era, they could perhaps be convinced to load up their roster and wait to address the quarterback position. Whereas Washington's current QBs are Marcus Mariota and Jake Fromm, the Patriots just signed Jacoby Brissett to join Bailey Zappe.

The Vikings could offer the same deal — 11, 23, and their 2025 first — to New England. That may well be enough to get a deal done for the third overall pick. The Vikings could even try to get a Day 2 pick back in that deal if they feel like trading two extra firsts to move up 8 spots isn't a fair value. As a reference point, the 49ers traded No. 12, two future firsts, and a future third to move up to No. 3 for Trey Lance in 2021. But the Vikings' immediate first-rounder at No. 23 holds more value than a future first.

If the Vikings are going to move up to 3 ahead of the draft, they'd have to be comfortable landing both Daniels and Maye. If there's one of those guys they prefer — and there's buzz that they're big fans of Maye — would they wait until draft night to see what Washington does at 2?

The recent track record of teams trading up into the top three for a quarterback is rough, to say the least. But that shouldn't be a deterrent. If the Vikings are all in on Maye or Daniels, it's a swing worth taking.

If the Vikings can't get into the top three, they should at least be able to go up to 4 (Cardinals) or 5 (Chargers) to ensure that they land McCarthy. He might not have the ceiling of the top three guys, but the NFL is reportedly high on McCarthy, who feels like a great fit for Kevin O'Connell's offense. Now that the Vikings have 11 and 23, jumping the Giants at 6 and getting into the top five should be doable without trading next year's first-rounder.

One piece of context here is that the Vikings are probably going to have two third-round compensatory picks in the 2025 draft. They currently don't have a second or third this year or a second next year, but having three thirds next year helps make up for that a bit.

Friday morning's trade was a fascinating one. It's hard not to think that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has a plan to land the Vikings' quarterback of the future.

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

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