NFL Draft 2015: Rick Spielman Didn’t Get to Trade Down

Rick Spielman said in his presser earlier this week that he wanted to trade down from 11 and accumulate more picks. Not exactly a stunning revelation when you consider how many trades Spielman has made in the draft over the last few years.

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This year however, Spielman was not able to pull off the trade he wanted. The Vikings got locked into #11 and went with arguably the safest player available at that spot, Michigan State CB Trae Waynes.

You won’t have to work hard to sell the Waynes pick to fans. Mock drafts have been sending Waynes Minnesota’s way for weeks and fans seem to be mostly onboard with it.

Does Waynes have the most upside of all the players available at 11? Probably not. Could the Vikings have picked a nearly-comparable cornerback in the late first or early second? Maybe.

Would the Vikings have still taken Waynes had they been able to trade down? Did they even try to trade down?

Spielman may have said they wanted to trade down, but that doesn’t mean he really did. It could be the Vikings loved Waynes and were not willing to risk losing him by sliding a few spots in the draft.

Whatever the motivations behind the pick, the Vikings now have another puzzle piece in their defensive backfield. Veteran Terence Newman now likely hits the bubble when training camp begins. If Waynes is ready to go right away, there’s not much sense in keeping Newman.

Next: Is Trae Waynes Overrated Garbage?

NFL Draft 2015: Rick Spielman Didn’t Get to Trade Down

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