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| Kalil's locked-in spot at three is finally drawing some interest. (US Presswire) |
NEW YORK -- The Minnesota Vikings would like to remind you just how amazing and wonderful this third-overall pick in the 2012 NF Draft is. Just in case you're interested in trading up. Not that anyone's not calling of course -- everyone is calling. Actually, it does appear that someone's calling, and, reportedly, it's the Buffalo Bills on the other end of the line.
Charley Casserly reported on the NFL Network Wednesday night that the Bills are interested in potentially moving up to No. 3 in order to grab USC left tackle Matt Kalil. And Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News reports that the interest is "legitimate."
The reported trade being floated is a flip of first-round picks (the Bills are 10th; the Vikings obviously third) and Buffalo sending Minnesota the 41st overall pick, which is the Bills second-round selection.
Frankly, this deal makes a ton of sense. The Bills are in no-man's land at 10, with their biggest position of need being tackle and a pick like Riley Reiff appearing to be something of a reach at 10. The Bills can still get a great talent with the 10th pick, of course, and that's why it makes sense for the Vikings to do this swap.
They want a blue-chip guy and have been trying to decide between Morris Claiborne, Justin Blackmon and Matt Kalil with the third pick. It's highly unlikely they get one of those guys at 10, but it's not out of the question. But they will likely have the choice of a high-end talent like Stephen Gilmore, Luke Kuechly or Michael Floyd.
Of course, the best result of this hypothetical trade is that suddenly there's also legitimate chatter about other teams showing interest in the third pick; it's not just Rick Spielman posturing.
Buffalo's potential deal -- which likely hasn't been officially offered, of course -- is a classic pace-setter: Minnesota would like to get more in return for the third pick and probably wouldn't want to move that far down. But they've got so many holes in their roster that if the time on the clock for the third pick is dwindling, they'd likely have to consider pulling trigger on a deal with the Bills.
