The Minnesota Vikings have many paths they can take in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Picking No. 24 overall in the first round, the Vikings could see several prospects at the top of their position groups fall within reach.
There's a common belief that this year's draft class is wider than it is tall. There isn't the same separation in talent between the 10th to 30th picks as in past years. The same can be said for picks No. 30 to No. 70.
That said, the Vikings, who only have three more picks after the first round, would be wise to trade back from No. 24 and try to land as many top-75 picks as possible, given the ample amount of talent in the middle rounds.
Few general mangers can facilitate a trade better than Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who has executed three first-round trades in his first three drafts.
However, it takes two to tango.
KSTP's Darren Wolfson reported on April 17 that several sources from different teams said it's going to be "tough" for the Vikings to trade back given the lack of potential trade partners. The driving force behind the lack of interest in the late-first round is the shallow quarterback class, whose only surefire first-rounder is Cam Ward.
The Vikings appear at the mercy of the interest in the quarterbacks who "fall" and whether a team is willing to jump ahead to catch them, and it's not looking promising.
This is the first year in the modern NFL era that all 32 teams hold their original first-round pick a week out from the draft. If that holds to April 24, it will be the first time since 2014 that not a single team traded their first-round pick before the draft.
The lack of trades signals that teams may seem content to sit pat and not move in the first round.
"With what is considered a solid but fairly even draft class, lacking in bona fide game-changers at the top, clubs aren't clamoring to move up," NFL.com's Kevin Patra wrote on April 17. "For instance, if you can stay at, say, pick No. 28 and get a similarly graded player as No. 18, why pay the trade capital?"
If this happens to be the case, it isn't ruin for the Vikings. They are positioned to see a top-2 prospect at several positions of need -- guard, safety and defensive tackle -- fall to the No. 24 pick.
If stuck at No. 24, selecting a guard would be the wisest move, landing a prospect who could be a Day 1 starter. Defensive tackle, safety and cornerback are well-stocked positions where a rookie would be expected to play more of a rotational role.
