Vikings Expected to Pursue Top TD Passer in FBS if Patriots Draft Drake Maye

Drake Maye has emerged as the Minnesota Vikings‘ preferred quarterback in this year’s draft class, but there are more scenarios than not in which they don’t land the UNC prospect.

Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reported on Tuesday, April 23 that Minnesota’s primary contingency plan is to back off of trade talks and select Bo Nix of Oregon with one of their original picks in the first round if the team is unable to pry the No. 3 selection away from the New England Patriots, who are also ostensibly interested in Maye as their franchise QB.

“A very well-connected league source told Yahoo Sports they firmly believe that if the Patriots take Maye, the Vikings are comfortable standing down in trade talks and using one of their two first-round picks — either No. 11 or No. 23 — to select Oregon quarterback Bo Nix,” Robinson wrote. “It’s worth noting here that Nix had a private workout for the Vikings earlier this month.”

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Drake Maye Likely to Cost Vikings at Least 3 First-Round Picks in Trade With Patriots

There remains hope for the Vikings to move up all the way to the third pick, which would almost certainly leave them with the option to select either Maye or Jayden Daniels of LSU, depending on who the Washington Commanders pick second overall after the Chicago Bears presumably draft quarterback Caleb Williams of USC at No. 1.

Dianna Russini of The Athletic told KFAN1003 on Wednesday that the cost of that deal for Minnesota will be three first-rounders, and potentially more, which tracks based on projections from other NFL insiders over the recent days and weeks.

“I know no decisions have been made and no formal offers at this hour have been put on the desk of the New England Patriots, but scenarios have been discussed, and that’s really how they’ve been doing business,” Russini said, per The Purple Persuasion X account. “And New England really wants to see that Washington is definitely going [Jayden] Daniels before they make any moves at that spot at three in terms of trade.”

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Vikings Can Still Try and Trade Up With Chargers, Draft J.J. McCarthy if Talks With Patriots Stall Out

A failure on the Vikings’ part to execute a deal with the Patriots to move up to No. 3 wouldn’t end Minnesota’s prospects of trading into a position to draft a top-four QB in the 2024 class.

For weeks, both Mel Kiper Jr. and Field Yates of ESPN have predicted the Vikings will ultimately trade into the No. 5 spot via a deal that sends three first-rounders to the Los Angeles Chargers, then select quarterback J.J. McCarthy out of Michigan.

“Here’s what it would look like — Vikings get: No. 5, Chargers get: Nos. 11 and 23 plus a first-round pick in 2025,” Kiper wrote in his joint mock draft with Yates on April 15. “The Vikings are going to have to move up if they want to guarantee getting the fourth quarterback off the board. The Chargers can pick up valuable capital in their mini-rebuild — maybe more like a remodeling job — under Jim Harbaugh.”

However, if Minnesota is balking at the idea of sending the Patriots three first-rounders for a chance to draft either Maye or Daniels third, it would make even less sense that the Vikings are willing to part with the same assets to move into the fifth spot for McCarthy.

Beyond that, the New York Giants are capable of throwing a wrench into the proceedings by jumping up themselves from No. 6 in a deal with Los Angeles or the Arizona Cardinals at No. 4 and swiping McCarthy out from under Minnesota.

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Bo Nix Could End Up With Vikings at No. 11, Big Winner of QB Class

All of which brings the conversation back around to Nix, who could end up the big winner if the Vikings end up frozen out of the top five.

Nix, who led the FBS with a whopping 45 TD passes in 2023, could well be a (or even the) primary target of the Denver Broncos at No. 12 or Las Vegas Raiders at No. 13. Despite some analysts grading Nix as a second-rounder — not to mention the competition he is likely to receive from Michael Penix Jr. of Washington to be the fifth quarterback off the board Thursday night — it is hard to imagine Nix dropping past all those QB-needy teams selecting in the early double-digits.

Not only would his selection mean a payday equivalent with a draft position in the top half of the first round, it could also mean landing in arguably the best situation any QB could hope for, should Nix end up on the Vikings’ roster.

Minnesota boasts one of the league’s top wide receiver tandems in Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, who are entering just their fifth and second NFL seasons, respectively. Throw in one of the game’s top tight ends in T.J. Hockenson and a high-level running back in Aaron Jones, and the Vikings’ offense is ready-made for a 24-year-old rookie like Nix with extensive experience to succeed from the jump.

The addition of Sam Darnold on a one-year deal would buy Nix some time to learn from the sidelines, while head coach Kevin O’Connell is young, affable and an offensive-minded quarterback guru. Picking Nix 11th would also allow Minnesota to keep its 23rd selection and 2025 first-rounder to build the team out further in the near future.

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