The Minnesota Vikings are in need of a quarterback after losing Kirk Cousins to free agency this offseason, and they may be able to find their next franchise signal-caller in the NFL Draft later this month.
Of course, the Vikings may need to trade up in order to get their guy.
Currently, Minnesota owns the 11th and 23rd overall picks in the draft, the latter of which came via trade with the Houston Texans earlier in the offseason.
But the quarterback the Vikings want may not be on the board at No. 11.
That’s why many feel Minnesota will move up in the draft in order to snag the right player, and Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox has the Vikings packaging both of their first-round picks in a trade that would land them the fifth overall selection and a couple of mid-round picks from the Los Angeles Chargers.
Knox says that Minnesota would then use the No. 5 pick to take University of Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who the Vikings are reportedly high on.
McCarthy just won a national title at Michigan and threw for 2,991 yards, 22 touchdowns and four interceptions while completing 72.3 percent of his passes this past season.
While many are worried about his physical limitations, his intangibles were on full display in 2023, which is why some feel that he could end up being one of the best quarterbacks from this draft class.
That’s certainly saying something, seeing as how this year’s group of signal-callers features Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr.
Some have even compared McCarthy to Cousins, and while Cousins has certainly earned his fair share of criticism for not being able to win the big game, he has definitely carved out a rather impressive NFL career for himself. Perhaps McCarthy is Cousins with big-game ability?
We’ll see what the Vikings decide to do in a few weeks.
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