Minnesota Vikings’ rumors recently have revolved around star wide receiver Justin Jefferson. He is currently away from the team, awaiting what will assuredly be a record-setting contract extension. However, if the team had their way, they would have already landed his replacement, Malik Nabers.
With the No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the New York Giants selected the LSU star wide receiver. If recent Vikings rumors are to be believed, Minnesota was actively looking to get ahead of the Giants so that they could select Malik Nabers.
According to Charley Walters of The Pioneer Press, there were rumors swirling that the Vikings wanted to make a big move up the board. Had they been able to select Malik Nabers, they would have traded Justin Jefferson.
“There was buzz at draft time that the Vikings wanted to move from No. 11 to No. 5, not to pick a QB but to get LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers, who was picked No. 6 by the [New York] Giants,” Walters wrote, per The Purple Persuasion X account. “Had that trade occurred, Jefferson would have been traded and Nabers would have been the No. 1 receiver.”
That would have been a landscape-changing move by the Vikings. Jefferson is arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL currently, but he is looking for an unprecedented extension. He wants to become the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league, approaching top-of-the-market quarterback money.
Moving on from a player of that caliber certainly would not have been an easy pill to swallow. But if they were able to replace him with a player of Malik Nabers’ caliber, who broke several of Jefferson’s records at LSU, the team would have stomached it.
While Nabers wasn’t in play, Minnesota did make a trade-up, moving up a spot in a deal with the New York Jets. With the No. 10 pick, they selected Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
The only Vikings rumors people will be concerned with now is Jefferson’s contract extension. Bringing him back into the fold is imperative to setting McCarthy up for as much early success as possible.
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