Commanders Taking Trade Calls at No. 2 in Case Vikings Offer Herschel Walker 2.0 Package

Well, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn talked to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (one of us) and told him that Washington general manager Adam Peters has indeed been taking calls on the No. 2 overall pick, but that he’s yet to receive an offer enticing enough to essentially trade away their own QB of the future.

“Yes, I would say [the phone is] ringing, and because, like you said, of the talent of the [QB] group this year,” Quinn said. “And so I would anticipate [Adam Peters] fielding these calls as it goes through…”

“A lot of times [the answer is] no, like ‘Thanks for calling’ but it is part of the process, and you have to do your due diligence to listen and to find out just to make sure, like is there something that you just couldn’t refuse.“

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn (via NFL Network)

Quinn notes that, when you are picking in the top-5, especially during a talented QB draft like this one, it’s your duty to listen to the many trade offers you are likely to get. Why? Because you might receive one that is just too good to refuse. Then, Dan referenced the infamous Herschel Walker trade.

Commanders hoping for Herschel Walker trade package from Vikings?

Quinn notes that the Walker trade is still talked about in the Cowboys organization, where he was defensive coordinator from 2021-2023, for how their fleecing of the Vikings changed the entire course of the franchise’s history.

“I certainly walked past it in the hallway when I was with the Cowboys, years ago for a trade that involved Herschel Walker and many draft picks and changed a lot of their organization. So, I think anybody in personnel with the skills of Adam, they’re going to listen, but there’s only so many things that you’d consider and it’d better be really good.”

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn (via NFL Network)

Of course, the reality that nobody remembers about that historic trade is that the Vikings were widely praised for it, at the time. The deal included mostly mid-talent players. The genius came into backdoor draft capital that was built in. When Dallas released the players Minnesota traded them, it triggered draft pick compensation for the Cowboys that ended up building the roster for multiple Super Bowls [more on all that here].

I don’t want to say that Dan Quinn is daring Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to call his GM and make an offer so crazy that, should it flop, not only would they lose their jobs… but they’d go down in history as the orchestrators of one of the worst fleecings in professional sports history.

I’d bet my right pinky toe that, if the Commanders’ batphone really has been ringing as Quinn claims it is, that the Vikings have most certainly been one of the teams dialing their number. Why? Because they’ve made it clear, they are calling everybody and entertaining all possible avenues, especially a trade up into the top-5.

And there’s no doubt, given the quotes above, that Quinn and his GM Adam Peters would love to be remembered as the Jimmy Johnson + Jerry Jones geniuses who accepted the Herschel Walker 2.0 trade. Hopefully, it doesn’t come down to the Vikings needing to offer that kind of package in order to get their QB. And if they do, let’s hope it at least ends up looking better than any trade linked back to Herschel Walker.