Vikings’ NFL Draft Plans May Have Been Ruined By Falcons

The Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons are going to be tied at the hip for the next few seasons. A big reason for that is the connection they share at the quarterback position.

After spending the last six seasons with the Vikings, Kirk Cousins hit free agency this offseason. He left Minnesota, agreeing to a four-year, $180 million deal with the Falcons.

With Cousins moving on, the Vikings opted to sign veteran Sam Darnold in free agency. The team addressed their long-term quarterback needs by making a move to select Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Minnesota moved one spot up in a trade with the New York Jets to ensure they got a quarterback. McCarthy was the fourth quarterback off the board, as five went in the first 12 picks.

Alas, it sounds as if McCarthy was a consolation prize for the Vikings. According to SKOR North’s Judd Zulgad, the Michigan product was, at best, No. 3 on the team’s quarterback big board heading into the draft.

Their No. 1 target was Drake Maye out of North Carolina. That was more of a pipedream, as Maye went No. 3 to the New England Patriots.

Trading up that far would have been costly, especially since they were outside of the top 10. What really shocked the Vikings was the Falcons going with Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8.

That, according to Zulgad, is what threw Minnesota for a loop. Penix is who they liked and were realistically targeting with their first-round pick.

“I think their first choice in the list was Drake Maye. I’ve heard rumblings on Penix that the Vikings did love him. They liked his arm, and they liked him more than McCarthy,” Zulgad said, answering a fan mailbag question on the “Purple Daily” podcast . ( H/T Heavy )

That certainly isn’t something that Vikings fans are going to be excited to hear about. It can certainly be construed that Minnesota reached for a player they weren’t in love with, giving away more assets to make the trade with the Jets.

That is what desperation for finding a quarterback can do to a team. The Falcons, in multiple ways, beat the Vikings to the punch, poaching their veteran and rookie target in one offseason.

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