By FIELD LEVEL MEDIA
Minnesota added another first-round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, acquiring the 23rd overall pick from the Houston Texans on Friday, according to multiple reports.
The trade gives the Vikings a pair of first-rounders with their own selection at No. 11 and No. 23. They gave up their 2024 (No. 42 overall) and 2025 second-round picks along with their sixth-round pick (188th) in 2024.
Houston also sends a seventh-round pick in 2024 — No. 232 overall — to the Vikings.
The Vikings previously traded their 2024 second-round pick to the Detroit Lions to acquire tight end T.J. Hockenson.
Reports indicate the Vikings are weighing a move up in the draft. Minnesota hasn’t drafted in the top 10 since 2014, when they selected linebacker Anthony Barr. They last drafted a quarterback in the first round in 2011, using the 12th overall pick on Christian Ponder.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins left on the first day of free agency for a deal too rich for Minnesota’s liking — four years, $180 million — prompting the Vikings to sign 26-year-old Sam Darnold to a one-year, $10 million deal. He has 56 career starts with three teams since being drafted by the New York Jets as the No. 3 overall pick in 2018.
“I’m not going to call him a bridge quarterback, but he’s a quarterback that’s on our roster under contract for a year,” Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said of Darnold. “Ultimately at the end of the day, the position is about how do you run Kevin’s offense? How do you overcome when the play is not there? There’s different skill sets that go into the position. That’s how we evaluate it. The contract itself is a series of options to stay or go.”
Head coach Kevin O’Connell said he first met Darnold when he was coaching a 7-on-7 camp, and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown is also familiar with Darnold.
O’Connell didn’t show his hand on the larger plan at quarterback or vision for the pecking order at a position that was problematic without Cousins in 2023.
“The most important thing is that alignment and the understanding that our plan’s in place. Kwesi’s used the word contingency plans, but those are all discussions and paths and avenues we can take at a very, very important position,” O’Connell said. “In the end, as much as I would’ve maybe liked to have Kirk here, the right thing moving forward for our team is where we are today.”
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