During the first night of the draft, we caught wind of something that ultimately couldn’t be confirmed enough to become an official PFT blurb.
As the unconfirmed rumor went, the Vikings attempted to trade for the No. 5 pick with the Chargers. With the aim of cutting the line for the Giants. The goal is not to take a quarterback, but LSU receiver Malik Nabers.
It would have had huge ramifications, as it would have given the Vikings a trio of first-round receivers and no clear answer at quarterback. Again, we never managed to capture it. (I mentioned it during one of the draft night videosafter news of the effort made its way to PFT headquarters.) On Sunday, bottom a Sunday column by Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press covering multiple aspects and angles of Minnesota seems like a stunning blurb.
“Pssst,” Waters writes. “During the draft, there was talk that the Vikings wanted to move from No. 11 to No. 5, not to pick a quarterback, but to get LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers, who was picked No. 6 by the Giants “If that trade had happened, Jefferson would have been traded and Nabers would have been the No. 1 receiver.”
That’s the kind of nugget that would be much more credible if it were the subject of a standalone article that fully elaborated on the situation. That said, the Pioneer Press certainly has editorial standards that would have forced them to have a degree of comfort before such a consequential statement would be printed.
The first part of the report is ambiguous, citing the “buzz” that the Vikings “wanted” to move to No. 5. The back is unambiguous and clear: “If that trade had occurred, Jefferson would have been traded.”
‘Big if true’, as some like to say. In this particular case, it’s huge if true. Not just because it talks about an alternate universe that almost happened, but because Jefferson remains a Viking and has no new deal.
Until he does that, anything can happen. He can sign a new contract. He can be traded. The Vikings can play the “you’re under contract” game for 2024, kick the can to 2025, apply the franchise tag and then find out.
Either way, his long-term future cannot and will not be assured until a deal is made. As we said earlier this week PFT Live (the clip is attached), the team sends mixed signals about their intentions for Jefferson, on one hand proclaiming to the world that they are holding him, while on the other hand watching his price keep getting higher and higher as other recipients do not. named Justin Jefferson signs bigger and bigger deals.
