One of the most active teams during this year’s free agency cycle have been the Minnesota Vikings. Early on, they added Sam Darnold, Jonathan Greenard, Blake Cashman, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Aaron Jones along with re-signing Harrison Smith, Blake Brandel, David Quessenberry, and Brandon Powell. But they haven’t stopped there. GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has recently made a trade for a second first round pick this year and signed two players to add depth on both offense and defense.

The more first round picks, the better

Going into the offseason, Minnesota held the 11th overall pick in the draft. Currently, they still have that pick and as of this morning, they added another first round selection via trade with Houston. In exchange for the 42nd and 188th pick in this year’s draft along with their second rounder in 2025, the Vikings received the 23rd and 232nd selection in this years draft.

Here’s where conspiracies, or maybe it’s more appropriate to say theories, come into play. Will Minnesota hold onto both of those picks? Those two first rounders could be used as collateral to trade up into the top three with New England or Washington in order for the Vikings to draft one of the top quarterbacks this year like Caleb Williams (it’s a stretch), Drake Maye, or Jayden Daniels (please God, no). Or, they’ll just hang onto the selections and possibly take J.J. McCarthy at 11. Then at 23, they could target an interior offensive lineman like Jackson Powers-Johnson or Zach Frazier or look for another defensive lineman like Jer’Zhan Newton, Byron Murphy II, or Laiatu Latu. The opportunities are endless.

Jerry Tillery

While Jerry Tillery’s play over his career has been rather underwhelming when you consider that he was a first round selection in 2019, I like this signing. For one, he’s a Notre Dame alum. That’s enough to get me to like him. But he was cheap and adds depth on Minnesota’s defensive line, something that was needed. He inked a 1 year, 3.75 million dollar deal and will serve primarily as Harrison Phillips’ backup. I can see him, due to his 6’6, 295 pound frame, being useful on passing downs, despite his struggles in the past when it comes to getting after the quarterback. With him playing more on the interior rather than as a 3-tech, this could open up more opportunities for the former Raider.

Trent Sherfield

The other recent depth signing the Vikings made was signing wideout Trent Sherfield. The former Buffalo Bill signed a 1 year, 1.79 million dollar deal and will presumably serve as the Vikings wide receiver four. It appears that K.J. Osborn will unfortunately play elsewhere next season. This means Brandon Powell becomes wide receiver three and Sherfield becomes the fourth option. On such a low deal, I don’t hate it. Sherfield has never been a number one, or even a number two option. He hasn’t had a season over 500 yards, so I don’t expect an exuberance of productivity, but he’ll be useful for a big catch here and there.