Sometimes fans know their favorite teams better than the people who are even calling the shots for them. That may not entirely be the case here, but Matt from Iowa put this one through the uprights in assessing the Minnesota Vikings' draft predicament. Because of last year's J.J. McCarthy trade, the Vikings only have four picks this spring. This includes the No. 24 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Matt from Iowa's question was the first one Craig Peters answered on his Monday Morning Mailbag for Vikings.com. The idea here is Minnesota has a familiar trade partner to be had in this draft in the form of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Liam Coen's team has a staggering 10 picks, but one of the most incomplete rosters in football. If Minnesota is willing to give up No. 24, Jacksonville could trade up.
This would be something to consider because Minnesota needs to surround McCarthy with as much talent as possible in his second NFL season out of Michigan and his first as the presumptive starting quarterback for the Vikings. While a running back, tight end or wide receiver at No. 24 could be swell, getting potentially two picks in day two would actually be the better option for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
Minnesota needs to find out fast if McCarthy can play or not, so I would be in favor of trading back.
Minnesota Vikings will need to trade back to get J.J. McCarthy more help
While I will be the first to admit that I am not a fan of McCarthy's game, I am heavily in favor of the Vikings doing whatever it takes to give him the best shot at success. His greatest attributes as a quarterback prospect are his inherent poise and how hard he throws the football. Although I fully believe he was being propped up by Jim Harbaugh at Michigan, Kevin O'Connell could do the same.
By trading back from No. 24 in a deal with Jacksonville, the Vikings would recoup at least one more draft pick for the selection. Even more important, neither of these picks they would be getting from the Jaguars would be of the first-round variety. This means the Vikings can legitimately sell to these hypothetical players the fact nobody thought they were first-round players to get more out of them.
Bringing in a few players who are talented, but play with a chip on their shoulder could be to the boon of the Vikings. McCarthy is a bit of the pied piper, so the Vikings should use that to their advantage. He still has a long way to go as the least development first-round quarterback in his draft class, but more better players to play with will certainly expedite overcoming the steep learning curve as a pro.
There are other teams the Vikings could trade back with, but Jacksonville checks most of the boxes.