When it was announced the NY Giants were taking LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers with the No. 6 overall pick, Big Blue supporters could not have been happier. After waiting for years, this offense finally has a WR1 that fans can be excited about.
As it turns out, though, Nabers almost wasn't on the board for the G-Men to grab. According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, the Minnesota Vikings of all teams tried to move up to the No. 5 spot to land Nabers. The Chargers said no thanks on a potential trade, drafting tackle Joe Alt instead. Wow:
This is insane, Vikings tried to trade up for Malik Nabers !!! pic.twitter.com/kNV3YDCgej
— Mace The Flip Flopper 😎 (@realmaceblack) April 26, 2024
The Minnesota Vikings tried drafting Malik Nabers ahead of the NY Giants
This is a bit of a surprise, right? The Vikings eventually traded up to select Michigan signal-caller J.J. McCarthy, a move that a lot of people in Minnesota were hoping for following the Kirk Cousins exit. Bringing in Nabers to pair with Justin Jefferson - who would end up throwing them the ball?
Regardless of that, the Minnesota front office was trying to shock us all in the first round with a Nabers move, but luckily for the G-Men and general manager Joe Schoen, they weren't able to get things across the line with the Chargers.
Had that happened, the Giants would have still had Rome Odunze available to draft, which would not have been a bad pick at all. However, with his explosiveness and breakaway speed, people in New York and New Jersey are quite thankful Nabers is going to be East Rutherford-bound.
After the magic he was able to create on the field with Jayden Daniels in 2023, the hope is Nabers and Daniels Jones can be a solid duo in '24. Nabers has all the tools to be a standout in this league and luckily, his talents will be on full display in the NFC East and not the NFC North.