B/R's Proposed Vikings-Patriots Trade Package is a Steep Price

Would the Vikings give up three firsts and a second to go up to No. 3?

If the Vikings want to trade all the way up into the top three for one of their preferred quarterback options, it's going to cost a pretty penny. The trade value charts, which assign points to different picks, can basically be thrown out when you're talking about a move up for a QB near the top of the draft. The Patriots, who own the No. 3 overall pick, have plenty of leverage because they can stay put and take a quarterback unless they're blown away by an offer.

Here's a proposed Vikings-Patriots trade package from Bleacher Report's Alex Kay:

• New England Patriots receive: 2024 first-round pick (No. 11 overall), 2024 first-round pick (No. 23 overall), 2025 first-round pick (TBD), 2026 second-round pick (TBD)

• Minnesota Vikings receive: 2024 first-round pick (No. 3 overall)

That's both of this year's firsts, plus next year's first and a 2026 second-rounder, to move up eight spots. It's a massive price. And it's one that the Vikings seem unlikely to pay, given what GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said to reporters last week.

"I don't think you want to necessarily go take these huge swings and not be able to build a team around them," he said. "It's always about walkaway prices. And walkaway prices, to me, are meaningful because it's another action. Your only leverage in the negotiation is your willingness to do something else. So I’ve gotta say, ‘I will not do this because I would rather do these three other things and make our team better.’"

Adofo-Mensah obviously knows that nothing is more important than finding a star quarterback. "If you get the guy right and he’s your answer for 10 years," he said, "then there's no price you probably wouldn't have paid, right, looking back?" But he also doesn't seem like he's going to just give up whatever it would take to go up and get that player.

In this scenario, the Vikings would likely be able to draft Drake Maye with the third overall pick. He has legitimate star upside. But he also has a lot of things to work on. And if the Vikings did this deal, they wouldn't have any other top-100 selections in this year's draft, they'd be giving up a 2025 first-rounder that could potentially be a top-ten pick, and they'd be out a second-rounder in 2026, too.

Is that really worth it? Maybe not, if the alternative is holding onto some of that additional draft capital and trying to land J.J. McCarthy or Bo Nix or Michael Penix Jr. instead.

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