The Vikings/Texans pre-draft trade was Houston’s idea

At least, according to Adam Schefter

We got a significant shock from the Minnesota Vikings a couple of weeks ago when the word came down that they had acquired a second first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Vikings sent the Houston Texans their second-round pick in this year’s draft (#42 overall) along with a sixth-round pick this year and a second-round pick in 2025 in order to acquire the 23rd overall pick.

The Texans have since used that 2025 second-round selection in a trade with the Buffalo Bills to acquire former Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who had apparently worn out his welcome in Western New York.

The assumption for many of us. . .myself included. . .was that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was looking to acquire more draft capital to potentially trade up in this April’s Draft and get their long-term answer at the quarterback position. As it turns out, the trade wasn’t even Minnesota’s idea, as it was Houston that initiated the discussions, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

A couple of weeks back, the Houston Texans went to the Minnesota Vikings and initiated a trade in which they got out of the first round, got an extra second-round pick, and they got an extra 2 as well in 2025. Lo and behold, everybody assumed that trade was the Vikings initiating it so that they could go up and get a quarterback. But the truth of the matter is that it was the Texans that initiated that to get out of the first round, to get added draft capital in the second round the next two years, so they could be in position to make a trade like the one that they did on Wednesday, acquiring Stefon Diggs at what many people were surprised by the price in the end.

(Yeah, some of the sentences don’t make a whole lot of sense. I’m just transcribing what Schefter was saying there.)

Given this additional information, I wonder if Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and company are feeling that much pressure to try to make a move up the board like many of us have been assuming since the offseason started. Yes, they have these two first-round selections now and could package them with other picks to move up the board, but the fact that they weren’t actively looking to add that extra first-rounder to start with sort of casts this in a different light.

Perhaps the Vikings think they can get a long-term quarterback at #11 overall or that they might not have to trade up quite as far to acquire one. They could then use that pick at #23 to bolster another position, whether it’s the defensive line, the offensive line, or another spot.

Or, the Vikings could just go ahead and make the trade up that many of us are expecting. At this point, it’s pretty difficult to believe anything about anything.

We’re a little more than two weeks away from the 2024 NFL Draft, at which point all the dust will settle, the smoke will clear, and we’ll know what direction this team is trying to go in starting with this coming season.