As we prepare for the 2023 regular season finale and, inevitably, the discussion of what the Minnesota Vikings will do with their first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, we get a report that the team apparently tried to move way up in the 2023 NFL Draft with their quarterback of the future in mind.
According to Brett Kollmann, who was a guest on Mina Kimes’ show the other day, the Vikings reportedly tried to move up in last year’s draft in an effort to draft Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson. Richardson was ultimately selected by the Indianapolis Colts at #4 overall, which would have necessitated a significant price for a trade up given that the Vikings were slotted to have the 23rd pick in Round 1.
I don’t think people realize how hard the Vikings tried to trade up for Anthony Richardson last year. Like, the haul that they put on the table was massive. Like, they were going to give away the entire farm and all the cows, all of it. They were going to give everything. But it takes two to tango. Their trade partner thought they were going to be too good, and so they went elsewhere. Because they didn’t want low picks, they wanted high picks, right?
I still think Minnesota’s gonna try to make a move. I think they’re at #12 right now and Jayden Daniels, I just feel, is a Kevin O’Connell quarterback to me.
There’s a little bit more to the quote but you can watch the clip to get the rest of it. Daniels, the Heisman Trophy winner, has been going in the Top 5 of most of the way-too-early mock drafts I’ve been seeing at this point, if that provides any context.
It’s going to be interesting to see what the Vikings do at quarterback this offseason, but we knew that already. Given this added context, what the Vikings do with Kirk Cousins will be key. If the Vikings don’t think they can make a move up for a quarterback in the first round, then they’ll probably attempt to find a way to bring Cousins back.
However. . .if Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and company were willing to give up a haul to try to move up more than 20 picks to get “their guy” in last year’s draft and were ultimately rebuffed, you’d have to think they’d be willing to try to make a move with a pick that will likely be about a dozen spots higher than that one. Should the Vikings lose to Detroit on Sunday, they’ll pick somewhere between #9 and #12 in the first round, depending on the results of a few other games.
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