January 26th, 2012 
Russ Loede 
Posted in 
Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said Wednesday during Senior Bowl practice that the Minnesota Vikings are open to trading the third overall pick in the NFL draft, according to Simon Samano of NFL.com.
Spielman said in an interview on the NFL Network set. “We’re the third overall pick, so we’ll be looking at all the options. If someone wants to come up and get our pick, we’re going to be more than willing to listen.”
Visit NFL Draft Gab to find out who we have the Vikings selecting third overall in April.
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It will all depend on what St. Louis does with the second pick in front of them; if they opt to trade their pick to a team looking to move up in order to draft Robert Griffin then nobody will be interested in trading up to the Vikings’ spot after that. In that case the Vikes should just draft Matt Kalil at 3; however if St. Louis takes Kalil for themselves and the option to trade down opens up it would be wise to swap picks with Cleveland, Washington, or Miami and acquire some extra value without sliding too far down the first-round. In a sense it is a win-win and it would be hard to screw this one up, unless the Vikings picked Blackmon over Kalil at 3, that would constitute screwing up.
WHATS WRONG WITH BLACKMON WE DO NEED a receivor.
If they traded down a handful of spots–got an extra high-value pick in the process–and took Blackmon at that point it wouldn’t be a problem, however taking him over Kalil at 3, the best rated LT (A much higher value position) prospect in five years would be ill-advised. Blackmon is not an elite WR prospect in the mold of AJ Green, Randy Moss, Calvin Johnson, or Andre Johnson; he grades out as a potentially productive WR yet not an elite talent. Kalil is playing a much more critical position, is the best overall prospect after Andrew Luck, and even has an older brother (Ryan) playing at a high level in the NFL, bloodlines which usually makes a player ultra competitive; there is no such thing as a sure bet, however Kalil is as close as you’re going to find. The Vikings can find a good WR in the second round if they need to (Sanu from Rutgers perhaps) but they will not find another OL talent anywhere close to the upside of Kalil by that point. Hope that helps.
Blackmon skills don’t warrant taking him with the third overall pick, there are way to many options open to the Vikings at wide receiver in this draft. Don’t get me wrong the kid is a hell of a talent and should have a productive NFL career. That being said however there are kids with the same skill set as his that maybe don’t have the numbers that he produce in college but as we all know what you do in college verses what you do in the NFL could end up being a very different story. The reality of the situation is that the third overall pick is expected to contribute in a huge manner and will garner the full attention of NFL veterans defending them at a position of glory. Veteran players do not want to be shown up by a rookies especially high profile ones, it is far more likely for a kid that fly’s under the radar at least in the beginning of their career would have more success simply because they don’t get the same attention until they actually prove themselves to be worthy of it, sorry just a fact.
Speilman was smart to let other teams know that the Vikings third overall selection is on the table, especially if the Rams get to greedy trying to make a trade with their pick. You would think teams are on the phone as I’m typing this with the Vikings trying to set up a deal if the Rams aren’t willing to be reasonable in their asking price for their selection in case the player that they covet is still on the board when the Vikings are on the clock. That be said make no mistake about it, there will be a card ready prior to the clock expiring on them if this situation unfolds.
Draft Weeden & Blackmon from Oklahoma State. Start them immediately and give them experience. Blackmon has freakish athleticism. Weeden is a gunslinger with an amazing arm. They already have the chemistry. Trade Adrian Peterson for a good player or two, and a few decent draft picks. Do what Dallas did to us.
One other thing…get DJ McNorton, running back from North Dakota State. He can run very well between the tackles, and he is an outstanding receiver. He’s deceptively strong & quick…and a great gamer.
Say what you will but any season when a team can rid themselves of:
Brett Favre’s contract
Cindy Rice & contract
Bernard Berrian & contract
Donovan McNabb & contract
Bryant McKinnie & contract
Ryan Cook
Tarvaris Jackson
and
Phat Pat
Ben Leber
Ray Edwards
Madeiu Williams and
Cedric Griffen
can’t be regarded as a complete failure. Individually, you can argue for this or that player but collectively it frees up capital to put toward rebuil…, I mean….renewing the roster.
Ponder will be on this list soon.
Can’t believe we would look right over rg3…and trade down.
Ponder isn’t the answer…and this years qb class is strong.
Find a qb that can make the throws…..build from there.
Stop the experiment!!!!!
Getting Blackmon won’t help if the qb only has enough strength for 35 yds