Out in Minnesota, the Vikings are in the middle of what’s likely going to be a pivotal offseason.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins is about to be a free agent, with the veteran 35-year-old signal-caller, who is coming off a season-ending Achilles injury, likely set to cash in for what could be his final time as a pro.
If Cousins departs, it’s going to leave the Vikings in a massive hole, especially coming off of seasons where they’ve been in the mix in the NFC North.
Right now, it’s uncertain whether Cousins will come back as he’s expected to garner interest and it could leave Minnesota in a position where they may need to let him go and potentially turn their attention to the draft in order to replace him.
As it currently stands, the Vikings sit at #11 but there are rumblings that they could also be among teams who could be looking to make the leap up the board to take a quarterback.
According to Alec Lewis of the Athletic, who covers the Vikings, an LSU staffer told him that Minnesota was “one of the earliest teams to dive into, evaluate, and express an interest in” Jayden Daniels.
The fact they’re even looking at Daniels tells you that there’s possibly an interest in moving up for Minnesota. Given how the draft board is starting to shake out, that would require the Vikings to potentially make a deal with one of the teams sitting in the top three slots, with the Patriots clearly being one of those at #3 overall.
The Athletic’s Chad Graff, who previously covered the Vikings before taking the job here in New England to cover the Patriots, appeared on the Purple Insider podcast recently to discuss a variety of topics, including their QB situation. That discussion included a potential trade by Minnesota next month with New England, which would see the Vikings move up from the #11 pick to #3 overall.
Host Matthew Coller noted that Drake Maye is also a player who Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell is said to be fond of. So he asked Graff if he believes the Patriots should accept a deal that would allow New England to add a haul of choices while allowing the Vikings to replace Cousins and get their future QB.
“So Washington takes Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye is on the board – I think that’s who [head coach] Kevin O’Connell would like the most – I’m going to offer you three first-round picks,” said Coller. “#11, and then two additional first-round picks, and then we’ll throw in some change – maybe a second-rounder in 2026. Is that enough for you?”
Graff believes it’s a deal worth considering, noting that 2024 is likely going to be a tough season and the Patriots need all the ammunition they can get as they continue restocking their roster. He also believes adding picks also gives them flexibility next year should the club covet a quarterback at that point.
“Yes,” said Graff. “I may not be allowed back in the grocery store around here. Everybody wants to just hold onto the number three pick, take the quarterback and move on. If the Patriots could get two additional first-round picks including #11, sign up for that. Do that.”
“This roster stinks. It needs as many first-round picks as you can possibly get. And then, next year, if you do hit on some guys this year and you target a quarterback that you like, you’ve got the ammunition that you can then be the team to move up and go get whoever. And if we’re being honest, they’re probably not going to be very good next year. They’re probably going to have, almost certainly, a top 10 pick, probably even a top 5 pick again next year. You’re going to have another chance to get the quarterback.”
“The Patriots are not in a spot where adding Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels is going to change their outlook, whereas I think it would for Minnesota. If you’ve got a guy on a rookie deal in Justin Jefferson, and the pieces that they have there, I would sign up for that for Minnesota.”
The Giants also recently have been rumored to be interested in moving up into the top three, which means that Eliot Wolf may find himself with an interesting decision in the coming weeks. At the same time, going the route of trading down would likely require at least bringing in a veteran early in free agency and taking steps to give them someone capable enough to start in September if they’re going to cash in and follow the strategy Graff – and others – have suggested.
However, New York is also reportedly meeting with Russell Wilson, which could possibly take them out of the mix if they ultimately end up bringing him in. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Wilson was spotted in Newark last Friday for what he called an “exploratory meeting.” Pittsburgh is another team that’s said to be interested.
(Editor’s Note: The above appeared in a recent daily Patriots notebook column.)
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
