Betting odds suggest which QB the Vikings will select in 2024 NFL Draft

The Minnesota Vikings may be telegraphing their intentions for the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. So much so, in fact, that the latest betting odds on the draft suggest that Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah already has his future quarterback in mind.

It's important for the Vikings to make some kind of move at quarterback in the post-Kirk Cousins era. That is, unless you believe Sam Darnold is "the guy," but who believes that anymore?

Darnold is nothing more than a stopgap. He's a bridge quarterback who's there to help the young QB Minnesota drafts succeed. He's there to be replaced, sooner rather than later, and the quarterback the oddsmakers think will be replacing him is Michigan's J.J. McCarthy, per FanDuel.

Michael David Smith "Pro Football Talk" points out the obvious fact that Minnesota most likely will need to trade up to get McCarthy.

"The biggest question is how high they’d need to move up to get McCarthy," he wrote. "With Caleb Williams favored to go first overall, Jayden Daniels favored to go second and Drake Maye favored to go third, trading up to No. 4 overall may be the goal for the Vikings. The fourth pick is currently owned by the Cardinals."

The Vikings recently just acquired pick No. 23 (and No. 232) in the draft from the Houston Texans (sending away No. 42, No. 188 and a second-round pick in 2025), so they have the ammo to work with in a trade-up situation.

Could No. 23 plus their original No. 11 overall pick be enough to move up to No. 4 to take McCarthy, or perhaps to No. 5 with the Los Angeles Chargers? Minnesota better hope so, because the quarterback-needy New York Giants sit at No. 6.

The odds that Minnesota drafts McCarthy are -115. The Giants check in at +350.