As the NFL’s 2024 free agent market dries up, the draft has been directly and indirectly affected. But Friday morning, the first round was literally shaken up.
The Minnesota Vikings have added a second first-round pick to their inventory, picking up the 23rd overall selection (and a seventh-rounder) from the Houston Texans in exchange for No. 42 overall (Round 2), a sixth-rounder this year and a second-rounder in 2025.
For the Vikes, the move opens some interesting possibilities. A team that now appears to be in some semblance of a rebuild following the free agent departure of quarterback Kirk Cousins can now bring in a pair of premium players on April 25, the draft’s opening night. Or, this could also be an intermediate move if Minnesota general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is hoping to do a subsequent bundle at some point in order to move up significantly and select one of this draft’s premier quarterback prospects.
The Vikings also currently own this year’s 11th overall pick. USC’s Caleb Williams, LSU’s Jayden Daniels, North Carolina’s Drake Maye and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy are all considered potential top-10 picks at the quarterback position. Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. could also wind up in the Round 1 mix.
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Whatever course Adofo-Mensah charts, it will invariably have a major effect on perhaps the club’s leading agenda item. All-pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson is entering his walk year, owed $19.7 million in 2024 as part of the fifth-year option of his rookie contract. Per ESPN, he turned down an extension last year which would have averaged at least $30 million annually. The state of the Vikings’ quarterback room is sure to impact Jefferson’s outlook of and future with the team.
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