Slick Rick is at it again.
Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman met with local media on Tuesday just 48 hours before the 2021 NFL Draft, where the No. 1 question pressing fans is what the team will do with the No. 14 overall pick.
In classic Spielman fashion, his answer was a non-answer. And for a good reason — the Vikings will have to wait and see how the board plays out to get the most value from the pick.
But the only concrete certainty is Minnesota will not be trading out of the first round.
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Spielman, Vikings Entertain Trading 1st Round Pick
In Spielman’s press conference, the Vikings general manager revealed that they had made calls about moving up and down the draft board, dependent on which players start to fall outside of the top 10 in the draft, per Pioneer Press reporter Chris Tomasson.
However, Spielman is not putting a ton of weight into making calls at the moment, given each team outside the top five is waiting to see what their draft board looks like before making any serious moves.
Entering the draft with double-digit picks for the third year in a row, Spielman hopes to leverage later-round picks to move up into the second round.
#Vikings GM Rick Spielman said if most of the players they like after the first round are looking like they might be gone by the end of the second round, that would increase the chance they trade into the second round. They currently don’t have a second-round pick.
“To have the draft capital we have gives us a lot of flexibility if we want to move up in the draft if we want to do that,” Spielman said, per Tomasson.
Spielman has shown to have a knack for landing top talent like Dalvin Cook, Irv Smith Jr. and Eric Kendricks in the second round and is optimistic he can turn the team’s quartet of fourth-round picks to move into the second round, ESPN’s Courtney Cronin reported.
‘There’s No Position That is Off-Limits’
When asked if there was a possibility of taking a quarterback in the draft, Spielman maintained his ambiguity with a brief statement.
“I will just say this, that there’s no position that is off-limits,” he said, per Tomasson.
There has been heavy speculation that Minnesota could take a quarterback early in the draft to plug in as a developmental backup behind Cousins.
KSTP’s Darren Wolfson has said that the Vikings “would pull the trigger” if Trey Lance fell to the 14th overall pick, but they don’t believe he will. Wolfson added later that he expects Minnesota to take a mid-round quarterback in the draft.
While fans should take everything Spielman has made public with a grain of salt, Spielman indicated that there is plenty of depth at offensive line in this draft and that Minnesota is looking for the best player available at all times.
“There’s quality (offensive linemen) throughout the first three rounds,” Spielman said. “We feel very confident if we do not move up or down in the draft, we’re going to get as very good football player at 14.”
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Vikings’ Rick Spielman Makes Strong Statement Ahead of 2021 NFL Draft