Lunchbreak: ESPN Touts Vikings Haul After Trade with Jets as 1 of Draft's Best

[Viktor]

Ranked second-best by Walder was Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman's trade with the Jets. The swap sent the 14th and 143rd overall selections to the Jets, and Minnesota received the 23rd, 66th and 86th picks.


After leading these rankings a year ago, the Vikings again took advantage of the edge gained in the trade market. In this case it was an incredible deal for them, particularly considering the player they ended up with: Christian Darrisaw, who was a logical fit for Minnesota at pick No. 14 and ended up falling to No. 23.


For the Jets, this looks like an error. The overpay is by almost exactly pick No. 66 itself – had that pick been removed, this trade would have been "fair." I'm not arguing the Jets shouldn't have drafted an offensive lineman to protect Zach Wilson. On the contrary, I think they should have drafted more of them.


If we want to put this trade in the context of players, think about it this way: If you were the Jets, for the same price would you rather draft USC guard Alijah Vera-Tucker or Oklahoma State tackle Teven Jenkins and BYU tackle/guard Brady Christensen? Jets [General Manager] Joe Douglas chose the former, but history indicates the latter is more likely to pay off. And that's not even counting the possibility that Darrisaw or Vera-Tucker might've slid to No. 23.


At the time of the Jets selection, there was a 21 [percent] and 34 [percent] chance of those players making it to No. 23, respectively, according to ESPN's Draft Day Predictor.


Behind the Vikings-Jets transaction, Walder highlighted the Bengals-Patriots trade in the second round (Cincinnati being the value winner), the Panthers-Texans trade in the third round (Carolina) and the Giants-Dolphins trade in the third round (New York).