With the NFL Draft a little over a month away, we have some reshuffling going on in the first round. The Minnesota Vikings have acquired the No. 23 overall pick in a trade with the Houston Texans, according to CBS Sports lead NFL insider Jonathan Jones. Along with No. 23, the Vikings received the 232nd pick in the draft while sending No. 42 and No. 188 overall to the Texans on top of another second-round pick in 2025.
Minnesota already possessed the No. 11 overall pick in the first round, meaning they now have two selections on Day 1 coupled with this newly acquired pick from Houston. That would put them in a strong position to potentially move around the draft board in hopes of landing a quarterback to succeed Kirk Cousins, who signed with the Atlanta Falcons in free agency.
Here's a look at the Vikings new rundown of draft picks for 2024:
- First round, No. 11 overall
- First round, No. 23 overall (from Houston, via Cleveland)
- Fourth round, No. 108 overall
- Fourth round, No. 129 overall (from Detroit)
- Fifth round, No. 157 overall (from Cleveland)
- Sixth round, No. 167 overall (from Kansas City)
- Sixth round, No. 177 overall (from Carolina)
- Seventh round, No. 232 overall (from Houston via Denver)
As you may notice, this trade currently leaves the Vikings without a single pick on Day 2, but the flexibility it gives them to target a quarterback on Day 1 is taking top priority for GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. In his latest mock draft, CBS Sports NFL Draft analyst Josh Edwards had the Vikings trading up as high as the No. 5 overall pick with the Chargers to select Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
As for the Texans, the 23rd pick that they sent to Minnesota was by way of the Browns in the Deshaun Watson trade. With their first-round pick now off to Minneapolis, their first selection in the 2024 NFL Draft is currently slated to come with the 42nd pick atop the second round that they just received from the Vikings.
