It's draft season. Forget Throwback Thursday, how about Trade Back Thursday? Under GM Rick Spielman, the Vikings are known for their shrewd-but-trade happy tendencies in the NFL draft. As such, vikings.com will look at potential trade back options every Thursday from now through Day 1 of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Previous ScenariosTrade Back Thursday: Receiving Offers
Scenario: Marcus Mariota is still on the board when the Vikings are on the clock at No. 11. It's a surprise to most that one of the top two quarterbacks in the class remains available at this point, and when there's a surprise on the draft board and you're on the clock, teams want to talk to you. The Vikings are fielding calls from two teams who are interested in trading up to grab Mariota – the Houston Texans at No. 16 and the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 20.
The Eagles stand out as the team on which to focus because Mariota's former college coach at Oregon is current Eagles Head Coach Chip Kelly. While it's not known right now if Kelly is interested in making Mariota his QB in the NFL, one couldn't blame Kelly for coming to that conclusion. To move up from No. 20 to No. 11 will take a substantial offer.
Proposal 1Vikings receive: No. 20 overall pick a 2nd-rounder (No. 52 overall) and 6th-rounder (No. 196) in 2015
Eagles receive: No. 11 overall pick
Accepting this proposal gives the Vikings picks Nos. 20, 45 and 52 to go along with No. 76 (four picks in the Top 76). Brooks pegged former LSU CB Jalen Collins as the 20th overall pick in his recent mock draft.
The Texans sit five spots after the Vikings and four in front of the Eagles. It's a shorter jump for them but as a result they won't offer as attractive a package of draft picks. Using a 2012 trade in which the Eagles moved up three spots from No. 15 to No. 12 as a baseline, the Texans offer a slightly better package to the Vikings to move from No. 16 to No. 11.
Proposal 2
Vikings receive: No. 16 overall pick a 3rd-rounder (No. 82) and 4th-rounder (No. 116) in 2015
Texans receive: No. overall pick a 6th-rounder in 2016
Accepting this proposal gives the Vikings picks Nos. 16, 45, 76 and 83 (four picks in the Top 83) plus a second pick in the 4th round. Former Wake Forest CB Kevin Johnson goes at No. 16 in Brooks' recent mock draft.
The third option is to stay put, of course. To add clarity to that option, note that Brooks gave the Vikings CB Tray Waynes in his mock.
Would you accept either proposal? Or would you hold your ground and take Waynes at No. 11?
