The NFL Draft is less than one month away and right now, the Minnesota Vikings are not set to pick much at all. As of right now, they only have four draft picks to utilize. As it stands, the Vikings only have four picks in the 1st (No. 24), 3rd (No. 97), 5th (No. 139), and 6th (No. 187) rounds.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah needs to do whatever it takes to find a way to acquire more picks, whether it be before or during the draft. If they only walk out of this draft with four players, that will be a big time fail.
It looks like the Vikings are going to be moving forward with J.J. McCarthy at quarterback rather than bring in Aaron Rodgers…for now. With having a great receiving core and a solid running back room with Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason, the Vikings are set up for 2025 really well. It will just really depend on what happens with the quarterback position.
If Minnesota wants to have success with McCarthy under center, they need to find a way to hit on these draft picks and only have four picks is just not going to cut it. There are plenty of teams that have a lot of draft picks that the Vikings should be calling to see if they can acquire some of their draft capital. The question is, which teams should Minnesota be on the phones with?
4 teams that the Vikings can easily trade with to gain more draft capital
Buffalo Bills (currently have 10 picks)
The Bills and Vikings are familiar with making a trade with each other. Back in 2020, the Bills sent a haul of draft picks to Minnesota in which the VIkings traded away wide receiver Stefon Diggs to Buffalo. With Buffalo’s first-round pick that year in 2020, the Vikings drafted Justin Jefferson who is one of, if not the best receiver in the league.
Buffalo currently holds ten draft picks, with their first one being at No. 30 in the first round. Considering the defensive help that the Bills still need within in their secondary, they should be looking at Minnesota as a trade partner to move up and grab a cornerback.
This is where the Vikings can move back in the first round, but also gain additional picks. There is no reason why the Vikings can’t acquire a fourth rounder, and maybe even a fifth round pick from the Bills.
Philadelphia Eagles (currently have 8 picks)
The defending Super Bowl champions will once again be looking to add fantastic talent, which is something that always do every year somehow, someway. Howie Roseman has been fantastic at drafting so maybe the Vikings shouldn’t trade with the Eagles.
At the same time, the Eagles do have eight picks to use and because they are in the same conference, the Vikings could land themselves Philly’s first rounder, as well as a third and maybe fifth round pick. That would give the Vikings an extra pick on both the second and third day of the draft.
Cleveland Browns (currenlty have 10 picks)
This seems like a bit of a stretch, especially with the Browns only have one first-round pick in at No. 2 overall. However, they do hold an early second-round pick as well as two thirds. Even if the Browns do get their preferred selection at No. 2 overall, if a player is sliding down the draft board that they didn’t think they could get, this would be a great opportunity for them to jump back into the first round.
This is where the Vikings can get more of a haul which could include Cleveland’s second round pick, maybe a third, as well as one of their four sixth round picks.
Jacksonville Jaguars (currently have 10 picks)
Very similar to the Browns, the Jaguars are set to pick in the top five. They also have a second round pick, in addition to two third round picks. This is more than likely the unlikeliest scenario, but anything is possible when it comes to the draft.
Under a new regime with James Gladstone and Liam Coen, who knows what the Jaguars are going to be up to. Maybe they want to make a splash by making two first-round picks and they are willing to part ways with some of their later round picks.
If that’s the case, that should easily motivate the Vikings to pull of a trade to gain some major draft capital. Sure, it would be boring to not pick in the first round. At the same time, you can gain some serious talent in the second and maybe third rounds for a much cheaper price.