10 bold Minnesota Vikings predictions for the 2024 offseason
By Chris Schad
Bold Vikings Prediction No. 9
The Vikings will draft a QB within the first two rounds of the 2024 draft
The Vikings could bring Kirk Cousins back, but at some point, they need to start thinking about the future.
Cousins is entering his age-36 season and coming off a torn Achilles, and if the Vikings don’t execute a Plan B, he becomes the quarterback for a regime that has two years remaining on the contracts they signed back in February 2021.
Unlike last year, the question isn’t if Minnesota will draft a quarterback. It’s more of a question of when.
This year’s class has three big names at the top, including USC’s Caleb Williams, North Carolina’s Drake Maye, and LSU’s Jayden Daniels.
While each of these quarterbacks could fall during the pre-draft process, the Vikings' best chance to land any of these players is to get into the top 3.
That could be easier said than done, as the price could be astronomical. The Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders, and New England Patriots all occupy the top three spots in the draft, and each team has a glaring need at quarterback.
If the Vikings want to make a deal for the third overall pick, it could be more than the haul the Houston Texans gave the Arizona Cardinals to move up for Will Anderson last year.
(Editor’s Note: The Texans traded away the No. 12 and No. 33 selections in the 2023 draft as well as first and third-round picks to the Cardinals in exchange for the No. 105 selection and the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 draft).
Minnesota is one spot higher than the Texans were, but the Patriots could want to avoid another year of Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe, sending the Vikings into the next tier of quarterbacks.
Perhaps it could be too early to select Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., Oregon’s Bo Nix, or Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy at 11, but the possibility of selecting one in the later rounds shouldn’t be ignored.
The latter could help the Vikings add an impact player in another area (edge rusher, cornerback, defensive line) and still get a QB of the future in the later rounds.
Either way, expect a new quarterback to join the roster in next April’s draft.