Mixed Reactions to Minnesota Vikings’ Aggressive Draft Moves

The Minnesota Vikings gave up future draft capital to move up one spot in the 2024 NFL draft and select quarterback J.J. McCarthy with the No. 10 pick. However, others around the league didn’t support Minnesota’s decision.

One NFL executive told The Athletic’s Mike Sando“I can buy trading some future picks if you are going to be contending and you are going to get a potential starter. But the Vikings are not even close to contending. What they did, or even what the Bears did in giving up a (2025) fourth (for a fifth this year), I would not be doing that if I were those teams.”

The Vikings sent the Nos. 11, 129 and 157 picks to the New York Jets for Nos. 10 and 203, moving up one spot to select McCarthy. Minnesota also used the 23rd pick acquired from an offseason trade with the Houston Texans to send to the Jacksonville Jaguars along with No. 167, a 2025 third-round pick and a 2025 fourth-round pick in exchange for the 17th pick, which was used to select Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner.

After including a 2025 second-round pick in the trade with the Texans, the Vikings now own just three picks in the 2025 draft. Sando noted that Minnesota will likely receive a third-round compensatory pick after losing quarterback Kirk Cousins to the Atlanta Falcons in free agency.

While the Vikings are expected to be going through a rebuilding season in 2024, some around the league didn’t view their draft trades as completely negative.

“(General manager) Kwesi (Adofo-Mensah) had the capital to move up for a quarterback if he needed it, and then he read the room right to know he could get J.J. without mortgaging a future first-round pick,” an exec said. “On the second trade, to get Dallas Turner, they paid a lot, but because Houston gave up so much for Will Anderson last year, I could see Kwesi saying, ‘Well, if we feel Dallas Turner is a Will Anderson type, let’s go up and get him.”

Another exec added, “They got younger, cheaper and healthier with more upside. It is hard to argue against that.”

It remains to be seen if these trades will pay off for the Vikings in the long run, but the team is certainly satisfied with the additions of McCarthy and Turner.

2024-05-02 15:11:15