The Cost of a Vikings Trade up the 2024 NFL Draft Board Might Be Getting Pricey
Josh Frey
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For a good chunk of NFL analysts and fans, a Minnesota Vikings trade up the draft board for a quarterback seems inevitable.
A major contributor behind this belief was Minnesota’s acquisition of the 23rd overall pick from the Houston Texans just four days after Kirk Cousins agreed to a four-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons. It seems like a pretty seamless transition for the Vikings to then turn Nos. 11 and 23 into a pick further up the board in order to acquire a new quarterback.
However, more and more it appears that the price of moving up could end up being rather pricey for the Vikings.
Will Cost Impact a Vikings Trade up the Board?
Obviously, it would be most ideal for the Vikings to only need to give up their two first-round selections in 2024 to move up the board for a QB. It would allow them to keep all of their future capital as a bit of a security blanket while also making it possible to select at least one more immediate contributor in 2025 (keep in mind, they don’t currently have a second-round pick next spring).
One such team that could cause some troubles for the Vikings in that department is the Arizona Cardinals, who sit at No. 4 overall. Outkick’s Armando Salguero suggested the following about a potential trade up with Arizona: “ [Cardinals GM Monti] Ossenfort has in conversations made it known it’s in the best interest of the Cardinals to pick up three first-round picks in exchange for the No. 4 overall selection, if he has to drop a significant amount in the first round.”
Arizona already has Kyler Murray in place, so they have no need to select a quarterback this spring. As a result, they’ve been pegged as a potential trade partner for the Vikings or another team that could be interested in moving up for a quarterback.
However, the Cardinals also could watch quarterbacks fly off the board with the first three picks in the draft, and then, they would have the pick of the litter of all the non-QB prospects. One of those players could be WR Marvin Harrison Jr., who looks like a star in the making at the wide receiver position and immediately would fill one of Arizona’s biggest roster needs.
As a result of that draft positioning, they won’t just give away that No. 4 selection without a pretty enticing reason to do so. Particularly because Minnesota likely will be in a bidding war with other teams like the Denver Broncos or Las Vegas Raiders, they might need to come up with more than just Nos. 11 and 23 along with some extra filler in order to make the deal.
This could become a tricky proposition for Minnesota. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is a shrewd businessman and has had a propensity for swinging trade deals in the draft. However, he also has been more than willing to walk away from the table if he thinks the demands are too high. We’ve seen that happen this spring in free agency with names like Cousins and Danielle Hunter.
The Vikings GM could view giving up his 2025 first-round pick as something that would stretch his resources too thin for next offseason. On the other hand, perhaps he could be content with the trade seeing as the Vikings are set to have a pretty large chunk of cap space next spring, so they feasibly could fill many of their needs with free agent acquisitions and pivot back towards the draft in 2026.
Overall, Adofo-Mensah has a lot to ponder over the next couple weeks before the draft officially begins.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.