Sam Darnold tag-and-trade: Vikings’ premium draft hopes could flop

Rumors are roaring at the NFL Scouting Combine, and Sam Darnold seems to be at the center of it all. While the Vikings say all options are on the table, most of the buzz in Indianapolis swirls around Minnesota franchise-tagging Darnold and trading him.

If the Vikings do pull off a tag-and-trade with Darnold, don’t get your hopes up for a first- or second-round pick in return.

“If there is a tag-and-trade, the pick is probably not a first- or second-rounder,” Alec Lewis, who covers the Vikings for The Athletic, said Wednesday on radio row. “Could you get a third-rounder for Sam Darnold? Could you get a fourth-rounder? I think with this team having only four picks in this upcoming draft, adding a fourth-rounder now, as opposed to a third-round comp pick later, is a move you have to make. I’m in alignment with the people who think a tag-and-trade makes sense.”

Lewis’s take lines up with what NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Tuesday.

“It’s like a comp pick, plus-plus,” Rapoport noted. “Amazing situation for the Vikings if they’re comfortable enough with J.J. McCarthy as their guy. They can just auction off Sam Darnold and go, ‘Come pay for him.’”

Comp picks are awarded in Rounds 3-7, and the assumption here is Rapoport meant a pick equivalent to the third-rounder the Vikings are expected to be awarded this year after Kirk Cousins bolted in free agency a year ago.

The Raiders make an intriguing trade partner to speculate about—they need a quarterback and have two third-round picks (Nos. 68 and 73) plus one of the top fourth-round slots (No. 107). Any of those picks would be a win for Minnesota if they’re planning to move ahead with McCarthy.

Other teams possibly hunting for a QB include the Jets, Steelers, Browns, Titans, Giants, Saints, Seahawks, and Rams. Here’s where those teams sit in the second, third, and fourth rounds:

If a bidding war breaks out, maybe the Vikings can get a first- or second-round pick for Darnold. If not, the aforementioned clubs seem most likely to at least pick up the phone in a tag-and-trade scenario.