Getty Head coach Kevin O'Connell of the Minnesota Vikings.
The Chicago Bears will no doubt entertain several offers for the top pick in the 2024 NFL draft, but the Minnesota Vikings can piece together one of the most compelling.
Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report on Wednesday, January 31, took a look at packages the Bears might entertain in return for the No. 1 overall selection. The scenario involving the Vikings includes Minnesota sending six picks to Chicago over the next three years, including three first-rounders (2024, 2025, 2026), two seconds (2024, 2025) and a third (2025).
The leap from the No. 11 spot to the top of the draft is worth a top-five selection, per [Pro Football Reference’s Draft Pick Value Chart]. The Minnesota Vikings don’t have an extra one of those lying around, so they’d realistically have to surrender their next two first-rounders — if not 2026’s as well — and a boatload of Day 2 capital.
The Vikings already don’t have a third-round pick this year. If they want to move up for Kirk Cousins‘ replacement in April, it’s relatively safe to say they’ll be without additional draft picks on the first two days of both this draft and the next one. Because they’re a division rival of the Bears, it might cost even more than that.
Vikings Need Young QB, Willing to Part With Major Draft Capital to Secure One
GettyGeneral manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah of the Minnesota Vikings.
Initial reaction: the deal Gagnon proposes feels like one that Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah would refuse. The team has key positions in the secondary and off the edge of the defense to consider, and handing over the first two days of each of the next two drafts to an NFC North Division rival is the kind of move that gets a man fired if it doesn’t work out almost perfectly.
That said, there are serious points in this proposal’s favor for the Vikings. First, the team would have its pick of the best QB class in recent memory, which arguably boasts several franchise players.
Quarterback is the most important position in sports, and Minnesota has already invested heavily in its pass game by signing tight end T.J. Hockenson to a record deal and using its 2023 first-round pick on wide receiver Jordan Addison. And don’t forget All-Pro wideout Justin Jefferson, arguably the best pass-catcher in the NFL, who is expected to ink a record extension of his own with the Vikings in the coming months.
Furthermore, Paul Goessling of the Star Tribune reported on January 23 that the Vikings “wouldn’t bat an eye” at surrendering a couple of future firsts if it meant getting their QB of choice.
“If they’re going to take one, it’s going to be someone [they] love or [they’re] not doing it.” Goessling told Paul Allen of KFAN. “If you have to give up a couple first-round picks for future years, I don’t think they’d bat an eye at that.”
Vikings Can Recoup Some Value of Traded Picks by Replacing Kirk Cousins With QB on Rookie Deal
GettyQuarterback Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings.
Minnesota needs an elite QB, and the franchise can get one on a rookie deal whose timeline will align with those of the top playmakers on its offense.
Cousins wants $90 million guaranteed over two years to return to the fold, per Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press. The Vikings can spend half that much on a quarterback roughly half Cousins’ age and keep that player around for twice as long on his first NFL contract.
The money the Vikings can save by going with an elite rookie QB over Cousins would be worth enough in free agency to offset at least some of the extra draft capital they would need to sacrifice to move up into Chicago’s No. 1 spot. Minnesota can also make that deal, at least hypothetically, with minimal-to-zero drop off between Cousins (coming off an Achilles rupture at age 36) and a player like Caleb Williams or Drake Maye.
Minnesota can then focus the majority of its remaining draft picks on finding inexpensive talent in later rounds to load up the defense — something the team has done well recently. Take, for instance, the signing of undrafted free agent linebacker Ivan Pace Jr., who became a starter in his rookie campaign and looks as though he will remain one for several seasons to come.
Of course, that isn’t an ideal strategy for the defense, as it requires some luck and will undoubtedly include misses.
However, coordinator Brian Flores will return to run the unit for the second consecutive year. He offered the Vikings a scheme advantage in 2023, and even if the franchise doesn’t spend a ton of draft capital filling out the defense this offseason, further improvement remains well within reach.