A doomsday scenario for Minnesota Vikings fans has materialized hours before the draft where if the Vikings miss on landing a top-tier quarterback opt to trade for a veteran — Daniel Jones.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio floated the idea on draft day, April 25, as a potential. He said he believes the New England Patriots will trade down and that their impassioned interest in Drake Maye is no more than a ploy to drive up the price on the No. 3 pick.
But if the Patriots have other competing offers to weigh against the Vikings, the New York Giants‘ offer would be compelling. The Patriots could trade back to No. 6 and still land J.J. McCarthy in a move that would lock the Vikings out of the top five picks while the first four quarterbacks are taken off the board.
The Giants would likely want to move off Jones to avoid any controversy in the building and could pitch him either in the trade with the Patriots or a separate deal with the Vikings, Florio proposed.
“Could they trade him? Could that be the end result of this? Daniel Jones to the Patriots, is that part of this package? … Do they trade him to the Vikings? I mean the Vikings saw what he could do in a playoff game,” Florio said, referring to the Giants’ 31-24 NFC wild-card victory over the Vikings where Jones threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns while adding 78 rushing yards.
“They see what he can do when he’s healthy. He’s basically Kirk Cousins who can run,” Florio added.
Vikings Are Not Looking for an Expensive Veteran QB Like Daniel Jones
GettyThe New York Giants are expected to “race” the Minnesota Vikings to select a replacement for Daniel Jones in the 2024 NFL draft.
While Jones being a piece of a trade package to the Patriots could make some sense in New England, the Vikings are not in the market to take on a veteran quarterback salary like Jones’ deal.
Jones signed a massive four-year, $160 million contract the offseason after the Giants beat the Vikings in the 2023 postseason. He’s due $36 million guaranteed for the 2024 season and carries a $47.86 million cap hit.
The Vikings signed Sam Darnold to a one-year, $10 million deal that suggests he was given consideration to compete for the starting job in Minnesota.
Pouring Jones into the mix would sink nearly $60 million into the quarterback position next year, which is infeasible for a team that willingly entered a quasi-rebuild when it parted ways with Cousins.
The Vikings have shown every intention that they’re ready for the roster-building benefits that come with a rookie contract and are likely to opt for one of the fringe first-round prospects like Michael Penix Jr. or Bo Nix rather than sacrifice additional draft capital to take on Jones and his contract.
Considering the Giants have already sunken investment into Jones, there is a possibility that reports of their interest in a quarterback could be merely an attempt to drive the Vikings into a desperate offer.
Vikings Ownership Aligned With New Regime’s Rookie QB Plan
GettyZiggy Wilf
While there have been years of brooding feelings in the Vikings fan base that the team’s ownership is content with the mediocrity that hung over the Cousins era, the franchise has stepped out from under that cloud the past few offseasons.
It started by offloading bloated veteran contracts that were restructured to keep their competitive window open during the Rick Spielman era. The Vikings released longtime beloved players Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook and Eric Kendricks before the ultimate severance of Cousins in March.
This offseason, they’ve been in lockstep with their staff as they embarked on one of the most intentional scouts of a quarterback class in franchise history.
The Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling reported that ownership has warmed up to the competitive advantage building around a rookie quarterback can bring.
The Vikings have spent eight seasons paying market-rate prices for veteran QBs, with only five playoff games and two victories to show for it,” Goessling wrote. “Vikings ownership was also said to be allured by the short-term competitive boost that can come with a productive QB on a rookie contract, allowing teams to spend aggressively in free agency while enjoying cost control at the game’s most important position.”
There will be growing pains with a young quarterback, but ownership appears ready to embrace a new path.
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