Texans Initiated Trade that Sent No. 23 Overall Pick to Vikings, Not Vice Versa

The Minnesota Vikings have two first round draft picks in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft, thanks to a trade from March 15 with the Houston Texans that netted them the No. 23 and No. 232 overall, in exchange for No. 42, No. 188 and a 2nd rounder in 2025.

Houston Texans initiated March trade with Minnesota Vikings

Most have believed for the last three weeks that it was Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah who approached the Texans front office, in order to initiate that deal. On Thursday morning, however, Adam Schefter (ESPN) was on Get Up and made it very clear that it was Houston who contacted Minnesota to jumpstart that trade.

Per Adam Schefter, it was Houston who approached Minnesota to initiate the trade last month that sent No. 23 overall to the #Vikings, not vice versa… pic.twitter.com/VIFM4ddGrP

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) April 4, 2024

“And then this offseason, you could begin to trace the breadcrumbs. And they started really a few weeks ago when the Houston Texans — yes, the Houston Texans — went to the Minnesota Vikings to make a trade to get out of the first round. Now, many people assumed that the Vikings initiated that deal to get extra capital in the first round for a quarterback, when it was the Texans who initiated that trade to get out of the first round. Clearly, there was a reason they wanted out of the first round, and they wanted extra second round capital to go make a move like the one they did yesterday for Stefon Diggs.”

Adam Schefter – Get Up (ESPN)

How much does this news change the public perception of what the Minnesota Vikings plan to do in the draft? Umm… kind of a lot. Kwesi and Kevin O’Connell’s new buzzword this offseason has been “flexibility”. They’ve been trying to convince us since day one that they aren’t married to trading into the top-5, in order to draft their next franchise QB, if the cost is too ridiculous.

Maybe the Vikings’ plans are as “flexible” as they claim…

I am one of those media personalities that has pushed back on that propaganda for months. To me, it’s never made sense for the Vikings to acquire that No. 23 overall pick, if it wasn’t part of some bigger plan. Others have even gone as far as to say the Vikings must have a handshake deal already in place with an anonymous draft night trade partner.

But after hearing Schefter, it’s clear that trade was not Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s idea. That means… not only did this trade allow Minnesota more flexibility, like KOC and KAM have incessantly talked about, but the move, itself, was the definition of “flexible”.

Related: Vikings QB Interest: Three Private Workouts and One Canceled Meeting

Houston saw Stefon Diggs (maybe other WRs too) as gettable and needed more 2nd round draft capital to get him. So, they approached Kwesi about a trade idea that made sense for both teams. Thus, Kwesi showed off his flexibility and got it done.

Now, I still believe the Minnesota Vikings will find a way to package their two first round picks in order to move up and draft either JJ McCarthy (Michigan) or Drake Maye (UNC). Nonetheless, this report opens my mind a little bit to the possibility that Kevin O’Connell & Co could be open to drafting a QB like Michael Penix Jr, who the Vikings have been linked to a lot, of late.