Analyzing Bill Barnwell's Two Draft-Day Vikings Trade Ideas Involving QBs

Every year, one of the most fun and interesting pieces of pre-NFL draft content is a mock draft from ESPN's Bill Barnwell that consists of 32 — or, in the case of this year, 31 — trade ideas instead of picks. They range from very plausible to rather outlandish and it's a virtual certainty that none of them will actually happen, but they're still fascinating to break down and consider.

Let's go over the two involving the Vikings in this year's piece and see if they make sense for Minnesota. Spoiler: Both deals involve the Vikings adding a young quarterback.

Moving up for Hendon Hooker

Steelers get: 1-23, 3-87
Vikings get: 1-17

Let's welcome the Vikings to the quarterback market! They don't have much draft capital (five total picks) after they traded their second-rounder in the

T.J. Hockenson deal

. They also don't have a quarterback signed past the 2023 season;

Kirk Cousins

will hit free agency next March. Another go-round with Cousins doesn't seem like it should

excite the Vikings

.

Landing a passer in this range would make sense, especially if Minnesota believes

Hendon Hooker

(Tennessee) can be an NFL starter. The problem for general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is that the Buccaneers pick at No. 19 and the Seahawks own No. 20, and both could be interested in Hooker as their quarterback of the future.

Barnwell doesn't make the picks after each trade in his mock, but his explanation suggests this would be Minnesota bypassing a couple teams to go get Hendon Hooker.

As such, I don't like this one bit for the Vikings. I'm totally on board with the idea of Minnesota drafting a quarterback this year, but I just don't think I'm sold on Hooker being that guy. If the Vikings aren't going to trade up for Will Levis or C.J. Stroud or Anthony Richardson, they might as well wait and take a chance on someone like Jake Haener or Jaren Hall or Dorian Thompson-Robinson on Day 3, in my opinion.

Hooker is 25 years old and is coming off an ACL injury, meaning he'd be 26 when he'd hypothetically take over for Kirk Cousins as the Vikings' starting quarterback. More importantly, he's coming from a simplified, QB-friendly Tennessee offense with a lot of play-action and half-field reads, so he has a ton of work to do at the NFL level.

Hooker does have major talent and tools, so a team is going to take a shot on him sometime in the first two rounds. For the Vikings, the ideal scenario would be trading back and landing Hooker in the second. If they want to take him at 23, I'd understand, even if I wouldn't love it at first. But to move their third-rounder — their only other top-100 selection in this draft — to trade up for Hooker is something I can't get behind. (If Levis somehow fell to 17, I'd be all for this deal to go get him).

Series of trades that lands the Vikings Trey Lance

Vikings get: QB Trey Lance, 3-102, 6-216 (from SF), 2-62 (from PHI)
49ers get: 1-23, QB Nick Mullens (from MIN)
Eagles get: 3-99, 3-101 (from SF), 2025 fourth-round pick (from MIN)

Here's how the Vikings get their quarterback of the future and the 49ers get back into the first day of the draft. It feels like this three-way trade should somehow involve

Kirk Cousins

ending up with the 49ers, but cap constraints on both sides make that impossible. If this were the NBA or NHL, we would include a fourth team to take on some of the money due to Cousins' contract, but the NFL

would likely frown upon that sort of deal

.

As it is, we have two trades. First, the 49ers would send their third-year quarterback and pick Nos. 99, 101 and 102 to the Vikings to move all the way up to No. 23. Those are also San Francisco's top three selections as a result of the trades

for Lance

and

Christian McCaffrey

. This deal values Lance as being worth the 39th pick in a typical draft, which is probably fair given what little we know about him after his first two seasons. Nothing about how

the Niners have handled his situation

suggests they still value him like the player they

gave up three first-round picks to acquire

. They would also include a late sixth-round selection to reunite with Mullens, who would be displaced as the Minnesota backup.

Then, to avoid going without first- and second-round picks themselves, the Vikings would package pick Nos. 99 and 101 alongside a future fourth-rounder in a deal with the Eagles to move up to the bottom of Round 2. Minnesota would end up with no first-round pick and selections toward the bottom of the second and third rounds, but it would also land Lance, a long-term replacement for Cousins.

So the Vikings make two trades here, as Barnwell explains.

The first is No. 23 and Nick Mullens to San Francisco for Trey Lance, three late third-rounders (No. 99, No. 101, No. 102) and a sixth-rounder (No. 216).

Are we sure the 49ers would do that? Figuring out Lance's value is quite complicated considering how little he's played in his first two seasons, but he's still a talented prospect they selected third overall a couple years ago. Would they move him and three thirds for the 23rd pick? Maybe! I think the Vikings would be fine with that deal in theory, as it would give them Lance and three third-rounders to use as ammo. The issue is acquiring Lance without trading Kirk Cousins, which would mean Lance wouldn't take over as the starter until the final year of his rookie contract (not including the fifth-year option). That's not ideal, but I guess it could potentially work.

The second deal is Minnesota sending No. 99, No, 101, and a 2025 fourth to the Eagles for a late second-rounder (No. 62). I think the Vikings would probably do that, as it would give them a chance to land an impact player with that second-rounder.

In total, the Vikings trade No. 23, Nick Mullens, No. 99, No. 101, and a 2025 fourth for Trey Lance, No. 62, No. 102, and No. 216.

Sure, why not?

Check out Barnwell's full article here.

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