The Minnesota Vikings acquired the Houston Texans’ first-round draft decide Friday morning in a commerce that might be a precursor to transferring additional up within the spherical to pick out a quarterback to exchange departed Kirk Cousins.
Within the deal, the Vikings acquired the Texans’ No. 23 decide together with a seventh-round decide (No. 232 total). The Texans obtained the Vikings’ second-round decide (No. 42), their sixth-round decide (No. 188) and their second-round decide in 2025.
The deal preserved the Vikings’ personal first-round decide, No. 11, which they might in principle bundle with the No. 23 decide to maneuver up within the spherical.
Talking Thursday to reporters in Minnesota, Vikings normal supervisor Kwesi Adofo-Mensah mentioned Cousins’ departure didn’t lock the group into drafting a quarterback within the first spherical. The Vikings have signed free agent Sam Darnold to a one-year, $10 million contract as a possible bridge starter in 2024, and Adofo-Mensah mentioned he thought the group had the “flexibility to go both approach.”
“If the chance comes the place that participant’s obtainable,” he mentioned, “we’ll take it. If it is not obtainable in that sense, we’ll proceed to construct round after which discover potential odds at a long-term answer, along with what we have already introduced in with Sam and anyone else we require. So actually, the reply is not some strict factor. And a part of that’s the flexibility we have wished to place into our plan for these previous couple years.”
Friday’s transfer, nonetheless, made it clear that Adofo-Mensah desires to provide himself a minimum of the chance to maneuver up additional in a draft the place it is attainable that not one of the groups that personal the highest three picks — the Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders and New England Patriots — will likely be enthusiastic about buying and selling out as a result of all of them reportedly wish to draft a quarterback. In that state of affairs, there might be a contest amongst a number of groups for the No. 4 decide owned by the Arizona Cardinals, who seem like set with starter Kyler Murray.