Report: Vikings Trying to Trade Up Before Draft Day

Could the Vikings potentially get a deal done sometime before next Thursday evening?

If the Vikings do end up trading up for a quarterback in next week's NFL draft, when will that deal be finalized? Will it happen right when a team in the top five is on the clock, or might it get done earlier than that? ESPN's Kimberley A. Martin, speaking on Get Up on Thursday, said the Vikings would love to move up prior to the draft.

"They've been on the phone, trying to actively move up," Martin said. "Here's the thing: It's not a done deal. I think in a perfect world, the Vikings would start (next) Thursday with that top-five pick already in hand, they would have that spot. But it's not guaranteed yet. And their GM has to decide if they're going to give up the kind of compensation that they'd need to get into the top five."

While it's certainly possible that a deal gets done prior to next Thursday, it would be a little surprising. It's been over a month since the Vikings swung the deal with the Texans to acquire an additional first-round pick, and there hasn't been a subsequent trade yet. If it was going to happen before the draft, wouldn't it have already happened? Then again, you never know. Maybe as things get closer, teams finalize their boards, and negotiations continue, the Vikings will reach an agreement with a team like the Patriots or Cardinals.

The benefit to getting a trade done soon is that the Vikings would have the pick secured, so they wouldn't have to risk taking negotiations down to the last minute. The benefit to waiting is that you get to see how the board unfolds. If the Vikings were to trade up to No. 3 soon, they'd have to be extremely fond of both Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels. If they only deem one of those two as worthy of trading up for, it makes more sense to discuss the parameters of a trade with the Patriots but wait to see who the Commanders take with the second pick.

The same goes with trading up to No. 4 ahead of time. If the Vikings are big fans of J.J. McCarthy, that could make sense, considering he's probably going to be available in that spot. But who knows what could happen? Maybe McCarthy goes in the top three, dropping Maye or Daniels to the 4 spot. In theory, the Vikings would have to be big fans of all three quarterbacks to justify moving up to 4 before the draft begins.

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