The Minnesota Vikings may look at a trade with Christian Ponder heading into the NFL draft and the Vikes also may trade down from their number eight pick to take Justin Gilbert or Darqueze Dennard in the first round, while names like Blake Bortles, Derek Carr and Teddy Bridgewater are targets at quarterback if the team opts to pick a player at the position early in the draft.
The team has Matt Cassel at quarterback for next season and while Ponder could be a solid backup, the Vikings could try to trade him for a later round pick. According to ESPN.com, the team likes Blake Bortles and Derek Carr, but they could move down if Bortles is taken early, as they also like Justin Gilbert and Darqueze Dennard at cornerback. Todd McShay writes that eight is a "reach" for those players and if the Vikings want to take one of them, there is a good chance they move down in the first round.
Last season the team picked three players in the first round between picks 23 and 29 and this year they could put themselves in position to have a number of draft picks in the top half if they choose to move down again. The team got three important players in Sharrif Floyd, Xavier Rhodes and Cordarrelle Patterson and now the Vikings could look to add a quarterback or a cornerback in the first round this season. The Vikes and general manager Rick Spielman are not afraid to trade down and they made that clear heading into the draft and that could be an option depending on how the first seven picks play out this year.
The Vikings know that there are a lot of good players at the top of the draft this year, but by the time they pick at number eight, it might not be worth it on value to take the player they want there and they could pull a move like the Raiders did last season. The Miami Dolphins traded up to the number three pick to take Dion Jordan last year and that allowed Reggie McKenzie to move back to take DJ Hayden, which was the player he wanted all along. What the Raiders felt was that Hayden was not worth it value-wise at the number three pick and that is why they moved down.
Taking Hayden at 12 made sense for the Raiders and for the value since he is a cornerback and that is why the Vikings could make that move. Cornerback is a need even after taking Rhodes last season and that is why the team may explore trading down. The Vikings come in with some flexibility, as they have an extra third round pick from the Seahawks in the Percy Harvin deal and that is a very valuable pick to have in a draft this deep and they have eight all together. The team can gain some picks with those deals and if they move down, they could add another second or third round pick in the process and for a young team with a new head coach that could be huge.
Last season the Vikings finished just 5-10-1 and they finished in the bottom of the NFC North and now they have Matt Cassel coming back to be the starter after he signed a two year deal. The team ranked second to last in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game and that is why many think the first round pick for the team will be on defense at cornerback.
