With the Minnesota Vikings in Indianapolis scouting players at the Combine, the NFL announced the tentative selection order for April's draft.
Minnesota, which owns the No. 23 pick in the first round, currently has nine total picks, the most of any NFC North squad. The Vikings have one pick in each round, with two selections in the fourth and seventh rounds. In contrast, the Green Bay Packers have seven selections, followed by the Detroit Lions (six) and Chicago Bears.
Minnesota's own spot in each round alternates with two other playoff teams that finished 10-6 and lost in the first round. The NFL established that the Cincinnati Bengals will draft 21st and that the pick which belonged to the Washington Redskins is 22nd overall. The Vikings own the 22nd pick in the second round and 21st in the third round as part of the rotating order between the three teams, with Minnesota taking the 23rd spot in the fourth round again.
Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, always open to trades, is armed with the 23rd, 52nd and 83rd picks in the first three rounds. Minnesota owns Detroit's pick (No. 5) in the fourth round stemming from a draft-day trade last year in which the Lions acquired fifth- and seventh-round picks in exchange for a seventh-rounder last year and this year's fourth-rounder.
The Vikings swapped picks with the Arizona Cardinals as part of the A.J. Jefferson trade last year, giving Arizona the Tennessee Titans' No. 8 pick in the sixth round — acquired for a seventh-rounder during last year's draft — and receiving the Cardinals' seventh-pick in the seventh round.
The current list does not include compensatory picks from last year's free agency period. The compensatory picks will be announced later this offseason.
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