This writer was quite active in the VAVEL Mock Draft, making several trades, and not making many more. The Cardinals and the Vikings realistically most likely wouldn't trade as much in real life, especially during just the first round, however it was fun to control some teams as a Lions writer, that were rivals with them this season.
The first trade made was with the Cardinals, and it was acquiring Kirk Cousins for a 7th Round draft selection. The Cardinals found this deal quite hard to pass up, as the Redskins said they were willing to trade Cousins for anything right off the bat. The Cardinals found a solid backup quarterback who could thrive when not in a mobile quarterback system, with solid wide receivers led by Larry Fitzgerald. They also valued Cousins experience and thought he may be better than any quarterback still available in the seventh round.
The next trade the Cardinals made was trading Tyrann Mathieu for Dante Fowler Jr. At this point, the Cardinals were looking for a solid hybrid prospect, and were a little less concerned about secondary knowing the depth they had at Safety. Dante Fowler Jr. could be counted on to help relieve some of the pressure off the linebacking corps while Washington was out, and then move to defensive line, arguably the biggest weakness of the team.
The next deal that was made was arguably the worst deal this writer could have made at the time, and came back to bite the Cardinals later. Sending 24th overall to Buffalo for only a future first and current second round pick was a poor decision, as 24 could have gotten the Cardinals a solid selection earlier than the end of the draft, and saved the steep price to move back in as well.
The next deal made, was arguably the best at the time, and that was sending Fowler and a 2nd rounder to Chicago for 19 and a Future First. The Cardinals traded a first round pick in Fowler, for a Chicago first round pick next year, which could be low without Marshall and with Cutler, while trading a 2nd rounder for Todd Gurley (after trading up to 17 giving up a fifth rounder) who when healthy, will be a force to be reckoned with in the NFC West. If he is indeed ready for week one, the Cardinals are extremely happy with this deal, even if Chicago does well next season.
The next deal made was sending Kevin Minter to the Titans along with Jaron Brown for Goodwin and a second round draft selection. The Cardinals made this deal believing Goodwin would provide a solid upgrade over Brown as the third reciever, while the second round pick would possibly be used to trade up or on a middle linebacker to replace Minter.
Then, came a three way trade offer. The Bears contacted the Cardinals about helping them acquire Robert Woods of Buffalo. The Bills said they needed a Wide Reciever and liked Michael Floyd, so a three way deal was struck. The Cardinals said they needed a reciever back (Marquess Wilson), as well as an upgrade along the defensive line after trading for and then trading away Fowler, picking up Ratliff, before quickly shipping him back to Chicago for Kyle Williams. They also recieved a sixth round pick as well.
After selecting Gurley, the Cardinals put Ellington on the block, not needing a second running back. They ended up receiving Morris from the Redskins as well as their 7th rounder back from the Cousins deal, making Cousins free, and getting at one point was a top 10 back in the right system as a backup. Morris was also an expiring deal, saving cap room for the following season.
Finally, the Cardinals traded up to 32nd overall in the draft to select Owamagbe Odighizuwa, a Defensive End from UCLA, who slid quite heavily during the draft according to the Cardinals board. It did take a current and future second, Morris and a fifth round draft choice to make it happen, but at the end of the day, the Cardinals improved their defensive line drastically with his addition.
Overall, the Cardinals feel as though their linebacking crew got weaker with the Minter trade, and they did lose Michael Floyd at Wide Reciever, but they gained two future first round selections from the Bills and Bears, improved their running game with Gurley, and could use their second round selection on a reciever to replace Floyd, while improving their defensive line with Odighizuwa and Kyle Williams.
The Vikings meanwhile, were more interested in the veteran talent out on the marketplace. They started the draft in selling mode, however, wanting to trade Adrian Peterson. They surprisingly only had one major suitor come in Dallas, who offered a strong package. The Vikings wanted a first, but Dallas held strong, giving up two second round picks in exchange for Peterson, who will replace DeMarco Murray. The Vikings then pulled off a surprising trade with the Jaguars early, trading Cordarrelle Patterson for the Jaguars future first rounder, and Alex Hurns, a depth reciever the Vikings were looking for.
The Vikings then were told Dashon Goldson was on the market, and made a quick move to get him from the Bucs for Tom Johnson and a 4th, while receiving a third in the deal as well.
After giving up Peterson and Patterson, the Vikings were desperately looking to acquire a good Running back and Wide Reciever. That's when their 11th overall pick came up. The Vikings were offered very good packages from both the Buccaneers and the Chargers, and could not decide. Due to their good relationship between the three teams, they decided to work together and make it a three way trade. The Vikings would acquire Doug Martin to replace Peterson, Keenan Allen to replace Patterson, as well as a future first from Tampa Bay and a fourth rounder from Tampa Bay, which they lost in the Goldson deal. Tampa Bay would get the 17 pick, as well as both the picks from the Peterson trade, and a 7th rounder, while the Chargers could move up to 11 to get who they wanted.
The Vikings then very quickly went into selling mode once again, trading away Anthony Barr for Randy Gregory and a second round selection, shortly after it was announced Gregory failed his drug test. The Vikings were willing to take the chance they could get him into camp and help work out his personal issues, as they liked his talent, and thought he could fit with the team in Barr's position, while also acquiring a second round selection. The then also traded Captain Munnerlyn for a fourth round selection, as they were still hoping at this point they could trade up to select Trae Waynes to pair with Xavier Rhodes.
They could not, however, as the rest of the draft went by quite uneventful until they were able to pull off a shocking trade with the division rival Lions, and acquire superstar reciever Calvin Johnson for Asiata, Mike Wallace and the second rounder recieved in the Gregory deal. As the Vikings had acquired Martin, they found Asiata expendable, Johnson a definte upgrade over Wallace, and a second rounder of which they had an extra a very easy price to give up to acquire one of the best recievers in the game from a division rival. They then made a much more minor move with another division rival the Chicago Bears, sending Andrew Sendejo over for a future seventh round draft selection.
After a very quiet dozen picks for the Vikings, the end of the draft was quickly approaching, however they found themselves with three future first round picks and nobody willing to trade down, having to wait all the way until 31 overall to trade back up as the Saints were willing to trade down. It was a very hefty price to pay, as they gave up the Bucs and Vikings future firsts (electing to keep the Jaguars), as well as Tampa Bay's third round pick sent in the Goldson deal for pick 31, in which they would select Bud Dupree, who somehow managed to fall to them at the tail end of the draft. The Vikings thought he could play at either Linebacker to replace Barr, or at DE to replace Michael Johnson across from Everson Griffen depending on where he felt more comfortable in their system under coach Mike Zimmer.
Overall, the Vikings liked their draft a lot, as they walked out with two of the games best recievers when healthy in Calvin Johnson and Keenan Allen, traded Peterson while still staying strong at Running back with Doug Martin, who all plan to work with Kyle Rudolph and give quarterback of the future Teddy Bridgewater lots to work with on offense this coming season in his first full year starting. If they could find a solid defensive prospect in the second round to go along with Bud Dupree, as well as improve their offensive line, this draft for the Vikings might put them on top of the NFC North in 2016.
This is just one mock draft, but the moves are still moves that could be made in the 2015 NFL Draft, which is coming up in just a short period of time as the first round begins on April 30th.