Did the Minnesota Vikings try to replace wide receiver Justin Jefferson by moving up for LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers? The Pioneer Press' Charley Walters mentioned that in his latest column.
Walters wrote in the "don't print that" portion of his column about the Vikings trying to move up for Nabers, who went sixth overall to the New York Giants.
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.
Did the Vikings try to trade Justin Jefferson to take Malik Nabers?
Normally, something like this wouldn't be a big deal, especially considering that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has gone on record saying that he hasn't thought about trading the superstar wide receiver. However, once Walters was willing to write it, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio came out of the woodwork and said that he heard the same during the NFL Draft.
During the first night of the draft, we caught wind of something that ultimately couldn’t be sufficiently confirmed to become an official PFT blurb.
As the unconfirmed rumor went, the Vikings were trying to trade up to No. 5 with the Chargers. With the goal of cutting the line in front of the Giants. With the goal of taking not a quarterback, but LSU receiver Malik Nabers.
This would have been a wild scenario, but it feels somewhat believable. ESPN's Kevin Seifert wrote after the NFL Draft that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah considered taking Dallas Turner over J.J. McCarthy.
But in explaining his decisions last weekend, Adofo-Mensah made two primary points. First, he said that while "you never want to give up future picks," sometimes there is a player within reach who is too much of an "outlier." Adofo-Mensah, in fact, had briefly considered taking Turner with his first pick in the round and then circling back to maneuver for a quarterback.
Doing so, he said, would have been "all just ego." Ultimately, the Vikings stayed disciplined enough in their quarterback search to wait for McCarthy first and then poured their leftover draft capital into acquiring Turner.
Let's take a moment and recap.
- The Vikings were rumored to move up for Nabers and trade Jefferson
- Adofo-Mensah hasn't once thought about trading Jefferson
- The Vikings nearly took Turner over McCarthy
It wouldn't be a surprise if the Vikings prioritized Nabers enough to trade up for him, especially with the team believing in Sam Darnold so much. That would also track with them thinking Turner was the better player over McCarthy.
However, it just doesn't make sense for the Vikings to trade Jefferson. They are still deep in negotiations with Jefferson and they want to pay him what he's worth. Adofo-Mensah has been very adamant about that fact.
At the end of the day, don't read too much into this. It does make a good story though.
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