Vikings almost pulled off unthinkable draft day trade and punted on Justin Jefferson

With Justin Jefferson's contract situation in limbo, the Minnesota Vikings reportedly explored all of their options on draft day, including trading up for his potential replacement. Per Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press, Minnesota wanted to trade up with the New York Giants to select Malik Nabers out of LSU.

Nabers and Marvin Harrison Jr. were considered the two best receivers in a loaded class. Nabers eventually became a Giant himself, as New York was content taking one of the best targets in the draft for Daniel Jones, a quarterback they've devoted a lot of money to.

Had the Vikings landed Nabers, a scenario which did not occur, they would have turned around and quickly dealt Jefferson for more draft capital, per Walters:

"Pssst: There was buzz at draft time that the Vikings wanted to move from No. 11 to No. 5, not to pick a quarterback but to get LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers, who was picked No. 6 by the Giants. Had that trade occurred, Jefferson would have been traded and Nabers would have been the No. 1 receiver," Walters wrote.

Did the Vikings really want to trade Justin Jefferson?

In all likelihood, the Vikings were merely exploring their opportunities. Minnesota instead opted to trade up for their quarterback of the future in JJ McCarthy, which also made plenty of headlines on draft night.

Jefferson skipped the Vikings voluntary OTA workouts. If he does the same at the beginning of June, he will be fined close to $100,000. Jefferson's agent and Minnesota are working on a long-term contract extension, which is the far better outcome than dealing away arguably the best wide receiver in football.

Having Jefferson in tow will aid the development of McCarthy whenever he is inserted into the starting lineup.

Vikings lucked out in keeping Justin Jefferson around

While McCarthy has plenty to work on between now and then, he has impressed early in OTAs and ran a similar offensive scheme at Michigan. He's not a perfect 1-for-1 replacement for Kirk Cousins, but he's close. In the meantime, Jefferson will look to give the Vikings offense a boost with Sam Darnold at the helm.

Darnold has said all the right things about working with McCarthy and the Vikings quarterback room, though it's sure to be an awkward situation, as is always the case with a veteran incumbent starter and his likely replacement.

"It's just how it goes, right? There's a lot of businesses where you can be in your business for 30-40 years, and the NFL, I think the average is like 3-4 years. It's a little bit different. Going into my seventh year now, even though I still am young, I do feel like a vet and just being able to help guys — not only J.J., but help any young guys in the locker room that need anything, I'm always happy to help," Darnold said, per the Star Tribune.

The Giants saved Minnesota from themselves in this scenario. Jefferson is a proven commodity, and though adding Nabers would've saved them some money in the interim, it wasn't in the Vikings long-term interest to trade the best wideout in the NFL in his prime, period.