Vikings set record for most picks in seven-round draft

Over the course of the past three days, the Minnesota Vikings made a lot of picks in the 2020 NFL Draft. Fifteen of them, to be exact. They could have made more, but they traded two selections away for selections in the 2021 NFL Draft instead.

Those fifteen picks represent the biggest draft class the National Football League has seen since the Draft went to seven rounds back in 1994.

The previous record for the most selections in a seven-round draft had been shared by the Miami Dolphins and the Cleveland Browns. Miami made 14 picks back in 1997, and the Browns tied that mark in the 2016 NFL Draft.

The Vikings started this year’s draft with 12 picks, partially because of the deal that sent wide receiver to Stefon Diggs to the Buffalo Bills. They then made four trades over the course of draft weekend, all of which were either trades down the board or trades completely out of the 2020 Draft for picks in 2021.

• They started the weekend with a trade with the San Francisco 49ers that moved them from #25 to #31 in Round 1 and gained them an extra fourth and fifth-round pick.
• Next was a Friday night trade with the New Orleans Saints, where they moved down from #105 (third round) to #130 (fourth round) and picked up extra fifth, sixth, and seventh-round picks as a result. That gave the Vikings 17 total picks and a whopping 13 going into Day 3.
• The first of two trades on Saturday saw the Vikings make a rare trade with a division rival, the Chicago Bears. That deal saw the Vikings give up pick #155 overall, a fifth-round pick, for Chicago’s fourth-round choice in 2021.
• The last swap for Trader Rick came late on Saturday, when he sent the Baltimore Ravens Pick #201, a sixth rounder, and Pick #219, a seventh rounder, in exchange for Baltimore’s pick at #225 overall (seventh round) and their fifth-round selection in 2021.

That’s how you get the biggest class in a seven-round Draft in NFL history, folks.