The Minnesota Vikings are the most sensible destination for running back Jonathan Taylor, assuming the Indianapolis Colts make him available, but there is a line Minnesota shouldn’t cross.
Judd Zulgad of SKOR North said on Wednesday, October 28 that the Vikings should not make the leap from offering a second-round pick, and perhaps another asset to Indy in a package for Taylor, to a first-round selection.
“I would really struggle with that,” Zulgad said of the team dropping a first for the 27-year-old back whose two-year, $44 million extension doesn’t kick in until next season. “I would put together a substantial package that includes a second-round pick.”
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Part of the equation is Minnesota weighing its Super Bowl odds this season against how much Taylor might improve those chances by injecting a shot of life into an offense that has not proven it can be dynamic through the air and is staring down the barrel of an Aaron Jones Sr. knee injury.
“I would really struggle with the first-round pick, I would have a problem with that,” Zulgad continued. “You can say ‘Well, hey, we might win the Super Bowl.’ And could Taylor get you there? I think that all depends.”
The short answer is that the Vikings probably have the best defense in the NFL right now. So if they can add a top-10 RB who is healthy, in his prime and producing at a high level, that should help one of the least effective offenses in the league level up.
That, in turn, might make life easier for QB Kyler Murray while also protecting against any defensive regression that injuries and/or better adjustments against Brian Flores’s unique schemes might bring.
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Is that security, and its implications for a championship run, worth a first-round pick? In a vacuum, maybe. But then there is the quarterback situation in the years ahead to consider.
Minnesota is probably going to select late in Round 1 next April, but they’ll still be able to find a rookie signal-caller in the high 20s or low 30s who will have a chance to become the franchise QB for the next 10 years. And, almost as importantly, whoever that quarterback is will play the first five of those seasons on a cost-controlled rookie contract (four years) plus a fifth-year team option.
Murray has accomplished nothing yet in 2026 that indicates he will be back with the Vikings in 2027 and beyond — certainly not at above-market value for the position. There are currently 13 QBs earning north of $50 million in annual average salary, and Minnesota can’t afford to pay Murray anywhere near that based on the way he’s playing and expect to compete year in and year out.
If the Vikings had a solution at quarterback they felt good about — say, for instance, JJ McCarthy had worked out as a top-10 selection who is in his third NFL season — using a first-round pick to acquire Taylor might be more justifiable.
Even then, though, Zulgad’s argument would hold given the opportunity cost that comes along with trading a first-round asset for a player at a non-premier position whose prime will probably evaporate in the next two or three seasons.
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