Vikings $4 Million QB Floated as Trade Candidate After NFL Draft
The Minnesota Vikings are a quarterback heavy after a busy offseason, which could equal a recipe for a late-summer trade.
Minnesota signed Sam Darnold to a one-year contract, presumably as a bridge to the eventual long-term starter and 10th overall pick in the NFL draft, J.J. McCarthy. The Vikings also spent a fifth-round selection on Jaren Hall in 2023, who started two games for the franchise during a tumultuous campaign at the position last season.
Unless the Vikings are ready to bail on Hall as a developmental prospect or stash him on the practice squad, the circumstances in Minnesota render backup Nick Mullens a potentially valuable trade chip for the franchise as the regular season nears.
“It’s not too difficult to imagine the Vikings dealing Mullens to a team in need of a better backup option, getting a late-round pick back, and going into the season with a QB room of Darnold, McCarthy, and Hall,” Will Ragatz of Sports Illustrated Fan Nation wrote on Friday, May 3.
Nick Mullens Put Up Meaningful Stats, Kept Vikings Close in Games Against Winning Teams in 2023
GettyQuarterback Nick Mullens of the Minnesota Vikings.
Similar moves happen every offseason, as teams re-evaluate their depth charts amid training camp and injury concerns.
For instance, the Arizona Cardinals sent the Cleveland Browns a fifth-round pick for Josh Dobbs and a seventh-rounder last summer. Dobbs went on to start eight games in the desert before the Cards shipped him to Minnesota, where he took over for Hall following a concussion against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 9.
Somewhat ironically, Dobbs is now with the San Francisco 49ers serving as a backup to Brock Purdy — a job most recently held by Darnold, who the Vikings are paying $10 million in 2024 to be the kind of placeholder for McCarthy that they believe Dobbs can’t be.
Minnesota acquired Mullens from the Las Vegas Raiders for a conditional seventh-round selection in the summer of 2022 and could now be in position to get some draft capital back for the gunslinger two years later, as he enters the final year of his $4 million deal.
Mullens began last season sidelined by a back injury. However, after Kirk Cousins got hurt and Dobbs’ improbable run flamed out, Mullens stepped in and ended up with three starts. He ended the year 0-3 as the starter, though he tallied more than 1,100 passing yards and 6 TD passes across those three games.
