Could the Vikings make multiple trades to get to where they want?

A new scenario has emerged

A bit earlier today, we talked a bit about how much it might cost our Minnesota Vikings to trade into the top four picks of the 2024 NFL Draft in order to secure a quarterback. While the prices that we calculated involve the Vikings making just one trade to get to where they want, a new scenario has emerged that would make draft night even more interesting.

R.J. White of CBS Sports presents a scenario that would see the Vikings trade up not once, but twice in order to get to where they want to be. While White presents a number of scenarios, the one he ultimately settles on sees the Vikings doing the following:

1. Trading the two first-round picks they currently have, their own at #11 and the #23 pick they acquired from the Houston Texans, to the Los Angeles Chargers for the fifth overall pick.
2. Turning around and trading #5 overall and their 2025 first-round selection to the New England Patriots for the third overall pick.

In this scenario, the Patriots would still be able to take a quarterback at #5 if they were so inclined. It would likely be QB4 instead of QB3. . .or, at least, as far as our perception is concerned. . .but if the difference between them isn’t that great in the eyes of Patriots management, they might be more amenable to such a deal.

This is very similar to a move that the Philadelphia Eagles made leading up to the 2016 NFL Draft. The Eagles had the 13th overall pick in the draft that year, and they sent two players and the 13th overall pick to the Miami Dolphins in order to move up to #8 overall. The Eagles then turned around and sent the #8 pick along with four other choices (a 2016 third-rounder, a 2016 fourth-rounder, a 2017 first-rounder, and a 2018 second-rounder) to move up to #2 overall.

Then they picked Carson Wentz. But up until that point it seemed like a pretty good idea.

Now, the price to move up from #5 to #3 would be less than what the Eagles had to pay to move up from #8 to #2, but the concept is the same. If the Vikings moved up to #3, they could select North Carolina star Drake Maye, who is their primary target if the rumors are to be believed.

If the Vikings are going to attempt something like this, it will be interesting to see when, exactly, they decide to pull the trigger on the initial deal. The Eagles made the first of their trades about six weeks before the 2016 NFL Draft, and we’re already closer to this year’s selection meeting than that. The longer they wait, the greater the chance that someone makes a move to get ahead of them and jump into one of the spots they want to be in.