It’s a good time to be Rob Brzezinski. The Minnesota Vikings have four picks in the top 100 of this year’s NFL Draft, a good chance at earning the general manager job, and fans are finally learning how to spell his name.
The Vikings’ interim GM has been soaking up the Arizona sun at the League’s Annual Meeting, and he talked a bit about Minnesota’s offseason and what’s still to come in April’s draft.
The big question on everyone’s mind, of course, is, What will the Vikings do at 18? With all the roster holes Minnesota is dealing with, the options are nearly limitless, including making a big draft-day trade to move up or down. And while Brzezinski didn’t specifically say the Vikings are for sure moving off of No. 18, he didn’t shut the door on it either.
“We’ve talked about that internally about how we’re going to navigate that, and I think No. 1 is you want to get your picks right,” he told the Vikings Entertainment Network regarding a draft-day trade. “And then kind of next level is you can maneuver around the board a little bit and pick up some extra capital here or there. And we have some guardrails as far as how we want to do that, but we’re focused on making sure we get our picks right.”
Despite entering the draft with nine selections, it appears Brzezinski is open to hoarding even more. A trade-up can’t be completely ruled out, but it feels like Minnesota is more willing to move down and stack even more top-100 picks, something that they haven’t had many of in recent years. The Vikings had four total top-100 picks over the last three years combined, and now have an opportunity to have as many as five or six this year with a potential trade down.
Minnesota doesn’t need a quarterback, edge, or offensive tackle, meaning any trade up wouldn’t be for a premium position. That’s not to say the Vikings wouldn’t do it should safety Caleb Downs or running back Jeremiyah Love fall out of the top 10. But their biggest roster holes suit them perfectly for a move the other direction down the board, and adding an elite talent at any of them would be a big win.
With needs at secondary, defensive tackle, wide receiver, running back, and more, the Vikings can easily go with a best-player-available approach and fill a hole. Luckily for them, there are a plethora of players at those positions who could go anywhere near the end of the first round, and Brzezinski couldn’t have been clearer that focusing on ability over need will be their intention come draft night.
“It’s the biggest reason why a lot of players fail in this business…you force, you need,” he said. “You pass on a player of higher ability for a position of need, it puts undue pressure on the player. If you get your board set right, and you look for the best player available, I think that’s going to lead you down the right path.”
Everyone and their brother has projected the Vikings to take Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman with their first-round pick. But if he’s off the board, or Minnesota secretly wants nothing to do with him, a move back makes all the sense in the world. Regardless of what Harrison Smith ends up doing in 2026, safety will be a need in the coming years. Still, the Vikings are clearly open to just about anything when they start on the clock.
So while everyone seems to have the Vikings all figured out, Brzezinski’s comments seem to imply that nothing is off the table, including potentially even dealing disgruntled edge rusher Jonathan Greenard. While Kevin O’Connell has said he expects Greenard to be a part of the team in 2026, the proof will be in the pudding when the draft kicks off. It seems likely that Minnesota works out some sort of resolution, but there’s more than one way to “pick up extra capital.”
Ultimately, Rob Brzezinski not only needs to hit on some of these high picks for the Vikings, but also for Rob Brzezinski. It’s no secret that Minnesota fired former general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah partially due to his mostly terrible drafts, including his infamous trade down to select Lewis Cine in 2022. If Brzezinski can show that he knows how to find talent in the draft, the Wilfs may be inclined to remove his interim title.
Minnesota could very well stick and pick at No. 18 if its guy is still there. However, Brzezinski has also made it clear he’s willing to wheel and deal if necessary.