Vikings may have big trade intentions with recent coach hire

One of the more underrated teams to watch all throughout the 2024 offseason will be the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings are at a crossroads in a variety of ways as a franchise right now with Kirk Cousins hitting free agency at the age of 37 and coming off of an Achilles injury, as well as the contract situation with Justin Jefferson reaching a fork in the road.

What is Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah going to do? The Vikings hold the 11th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and are seemingly well-equipped to potentially move on from Cousins this offseason if they want to start fresh with a young quarterback. But they would have to make some kind of move to get in position for a franchise QB of the future, there's no question about it.

The Vikings may have just made a coaching hire that gives away their intentions. Frank Reich hired Josh McCown to his seemingly star-studded cast in Carolina last offseason, but when Reich and his staff were dismissed, McCown became a coaching free agent once again. He has resurfaced as the quarterbacks coach in Minnesota under Kevin O'Connell.

McCown's presence in Minnesota as QBs coach may simply be the organization identifying a coach they believe can best work with Kirk Cousins, but it could also be the tie that binds to one of the top QB prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The plot thickens...

As Jordan Reid points out, the connection between Josh McCown and expected top-five pick Drake Maye is there. When you have that kind of history with a prospect, it's substantial and definitely matters. Does that mean the Vikings are guaranteed to draft Drake Maye? Absolutely not, but having McCown's voice in that room now gives the Vikings an edge when it comes to projecting the player and person into their franchise.

Having McCown's intel on Drake Maye could ultimately be a deciding factor in whether or not the Vikings decide to make a big move up the board in the 2024 NFL Draft. Without a third-round pick, the Vikings would have to likely trade their second-round pick this year and first-round pick next year to get anywhere within striking distance of selecting Drake Maye, but there have been rumors that Maye is potentially "falling" in this pre-draft process.

It's lying season out there right now, so who knows what you're supposed to believe is true? But the idea of the Vikings landing Drake Maye and finding a way to lock Justin Jefferson into a long-term contract sounds appealing on paper. And it might not be impossible, either.