There was at least one scenario in the 2024 NFL Draft where wide receiver Malik Neighbors didn’t go to the Giants at No. 6 and All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson went to another team.
Last month, the “rumor” surrounding the Vikings was that they would move up six spots to No. 5 overall, select Neighbors, trade Jefferson and potentially completely re-build the position with another receiver from LSU, according to the Pioneer Press and Pro Football Talk.
“Tsk.” According to an article in Pioneer Press:“At the time of the draft, there were rumors that the Vikings wanted to move up from 11th to 5th, but it wasn’t to select a quarterback, but to acquire Louisiana State wide receiver Malik Neighbors, who was selected 6th by the Giants. If that trade had happened, Jefferson would have been traded and Neighbors would have been the No. 1 receiver.”
Instead, the Vikings moved up one spot to No. 10 and selected Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, and will ultimately have to figure out how to navigate looming negotiations with Jefferson, who will become an unrestricted free agent after the 2024 season and is currently playing out the fifth-year option on his rookie contract.
And with the Chargers taking offensive lineman Joe Alt at No. 5, general manager Joe Sean and the Giants could take Neighbors one pick later, adding a No. 1 receiver to quarterback Daniel Jones and bolstering a position that also includes Darius Slayton, Jalyn Hyatt and Wan’Dale Robinson.
Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah told reporters in February that he wasn’t considering trading Jefferson, adding that the Vikings view Jefferson as “one of the best players in the league outside of quarterback” and that would be reflected in his next contract.
“Everything’s going to be OK,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said on Up & Adams earlier this month. According to NFL.com:.
Still, the Vikings are faced with the reality that they’ll soon need to sign Jefferson to a long-term contract (worth much more than his 2024 salary of $19.743 million).
Jefferson, the No. 22 overall pick in 2020, caught 68 passes with five touchdowns in 10 games in 2023 after a season in which he led the league with 128 receptions and 1,809 yards, topping 1,000 yards for the fourth straight year.
Those 2023 numbers come amid a quarterback turmoil in Minnesota, with Joshua Dobbs, Nick Mullens and Jalen Hall taking snaps at quarterback after Kirk Cousins (now signed with the Falcons) ruptured his Achilles.
So after the first round of the NFL Draft was completed, the Vikings got their quarterback of the future and the Giants got their wide receiver of the future, filling both franchises’ most pressing needs.
“I have a little bit of Spider-Man talent,” Neighbors told reporters last month, “if I feel like there’s somebody down the field, I know how close I’m going to be out of bounds. I just know how to react to the ball, my late handles, understanding where the defender is on my route.”
But Sean and the Giants could have faced an entirely different scenario in which they would have had to convert their first-round draft pick into another top wide receiver, or even a different player entirely.
