Vikings Even Evaluating Potential Draft Picks at Lunch

Kevin O’Connell is evaluating every quarterback option on the menu.

The Kirk Cousins era is over in Minnesota and the Vikings are looking for a new franchise quarterback. Holding the No. 11 and No. 23 overall picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, Minnesota is going to need to move up if it wants one of the top college quarterbacks — who are all expected to be taken off the board early. The franchise is aware of that and is preparing for a number of possible scenarios next season.

The Vikings recently signed Sam Darnold to a one-year deal, so they technically have a starting quarterback. But that’s a short-term solution, if you can even call it that. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah says the Vikings have flexibility this year, meaning that if can’t trade up they’ll consider drafting a quarterback in a later round or just wait to try again in the 2025 draft.

Also worth noting is the way the Vikings are evaluating this year’s quarterback crop. Their coach and general manager skipped most pro days, opting instead for private workouts. In the event the Vikings traveled to see a player, head coach Kevin O’Connell says he would would use lunch as sort of a test.

“You can get a real quick indication of the level of excitement we all have for a guy based upon spending a good chunk of time together on their home turf,” he said. “See how they interact with people around the athletic facility, maybe allow them to take us to lunch. We may pick up the tab, but I want to go to where, ‘Hey, where’s your favorite spot to go to lunch?’ And I want to see how they interact with folks, because building-changing quarterbacks, they don’t just change the facilities. Any room they ever walk into, they light it up, they change it, they impact it.”

Does O’Connell value the confidence a quarterback must display to assume the Vikings are picking up the check or appreciate the humility that a player must show by reaching for his wallet when the bill comes? If a quarterback won’t take charge and order appetizers for the table how can you trust him to run a two-minute drill? No wonder O’Connell has one of those play sheets that looks like a menu.