One of the worst-kept secrets heading into Thursday’s NFL Draft is that the Minnesota Vikings are trying desperately to trade up for North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye.
With USC’s Caleb Williams and LSU’s Jayden Daniels expected to go No. 1 and 2 overall to the Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders, respectively, Minnesota would likely have to come up from 11th overall to third, where the New England Patriots will presumably take Maye if they don’t trade out of their pick.
If the Vikings can’t get into the top three, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports states they could have a backup plan – one that doesn’t include Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.
“A very well-connected league source told Yahoo Sports they firmly believe that if the Patriots take Maye, the Vikings are comfortable standing down in trade talks and using one of their two first-round picks — either No. 11 or No. 23 — to select Oregon quarterback Bo Nix,” Robinson wrote. “It’s worth noting here that Nix had a private workout for the Vikings earlier this month.”