Leave it to Bill Barnwell to break the draft machine in the best way possible. ESPN’s annual all-trades mock draft is back, and once again, no team is safe. Nothing is sacred. The laws of physics don’t apply. It’s 32 teams playing interdimensional poker, and somehow, the Minnesota Vikings just walked away with the pot.
In a universe where chaos reigns, the Vikings did something unexpectedly smart: they traded back. That’s it. That’s the move. No reaching for the sake of it. No drafting for need. Just a good old-fashioned slide down the board—and a borderline heist of mid-round capital in return.
Barnwell has the Vikings shipping off their No. 24 pick to the New York Giants in exchange for picks 34 (round 2), 99 (round 3), and 105 (round 4).
That’s two extra Day 2 and an early Day 3 swings for a team that originally came into the draft with only four picks total. Now they’ve got a pretty decent haul, and options to attack multiple needs.
Minnesota practically steals the Giants' draft class in mock draft
It might not make headlines, but this is the kind of move that helps build depth. The dropoff from 24 to 34 is negligible in this draft.
It's not like the Vikings are hurting for a mid-20s pick. By all accounts, they overachieved last season with a 14-3 record, and even after Sam Darnold departed for Seattle, they’re rolling into 2025 with J.J. McCarthy waiting in the wings, a solid offensive line on paper, and a defense that just added Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave.
What they don’t have? Depth. Youth. Draft capital. That’s where this trade becomes so valuable. It’s not sexy. But it’s efficient. And it gives the Vikings a few chances at filling out the back half of a playoff roster without mortgaging the future.
Barnwell explained their situation perfectly: “With a league-low four picks in this draft, the Vikings need to do what they can to manufacture extra capital, especially given that they were the league's oldest team on a snap-weighted basis last season.” And in this multiverse of mayhem, they did exactly that.
Look, nothing about an all-trades mock is meant to be remotely realistic—but this? This feels actually feels like something we could get behind. If this were real life, Vikings fans would be able to live with it.
The net two additional picks feel like a win, especially in a draft like this. This move firmly puts them in a position to address several, if not all of their needs heading into the 2025 season. Benjamin Morrison (CB, Notre Dame in the second round)—why not? Jordan Phillips (DT, Maryland in the third)—send it. All of a sudden, this team has more juice than it ever thought possible.
This might be a mock draft living in make-pretend world, but there might be some merit here.
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