Vikings Reportedly Tried Trading Up in NFL Draft for LSU WR Malik Nabers

“I’ve got a little something more to tell you, here. Something I’ve picked up, because I’ve got tentacles everywhere. I’ve got connections. I’m hearing things and you know what I heard, and I’m surprised by this but I trust my source. At No. 5, the Chargers, when they took Joe Alt, they passed on an opportunity to trade out of that spot.

The team that wanted to move up to that spot, I’m told… the Minnesota Vikings. And not to take J McCarthy. The Vikings, I’m told, were trying to move up to No. 5 to get Malik Nabers.”

Mike Florio – ProFootballTalk

From there, Florio goes on to question what the Vikings’ interest in Malik Nabers meant for Justin Jefferson. Could Minnesota really be concerned they might lose him or be forced to trade him this offseason (or next) should they not be able to reach a contract agreement.

Now, it’s important to not that this ProFootballTalk report came after the New York Giants selected Malik Nabers with the No. 6 overall pick and after the Chargers had already drafted ‘one of us’ Joe Alt at pick 5. But it was before the Minnesota Vikings had traded up to No. 10 to take JJ McCarthy. Here’s the rest of the transcript from the Florio clip above.

“What does that tell you about the Vikings and Justin Jefferson? The Vikings tried to get to No. 5, apparently not to get McCarthy, but to get Malik Nabers. What an offense that would’ve been. They still would’ve needed a quarterback, they may get that quarterback in a few picks.”

Mike Florio – ProFootballTalk

What in the Mike Florio world is going on here…

We now know that the Vikings were able to land JJ McCarthy at No. 10. So, if we assume that Florio’s source was correct, one has to wonder if Kwesi and O’Connell were really trying to stack the Minnesota receiving core to a level we haven’t seen since Randy Moss, Cris Carter and Jake Reed all suited up in purple and gold.

Or… was the Vikings’ call up to No. 5 a smokescreen of some sort? We know the Giants spent more time with JJ McCarthy than any other team in the draft and many thought he would be the pick at No. 6, if he was still available.

Instead, it was New York who passed on JJ and opted for Nabers at No. 6. We may never know the answer to these questions, or if this call up ever really happened. But Nonetheless, it is a ‘what in the…’ type of report that Mike Florio has become famous for.