What Goes Around...

Do you know who Marcus Thomas is? If you're a hard-core fan (or a Denver Broncos fan) you know who he is. Last year Denver made a trade with the Vikings to get into the fourth round in order to take Thomas. In doing so, they gave the Vikings a third-round pick in this year's draft that could give the team a lot of flexibility to make moves on draft weekend.

Sometimes good things happen to those who wait.

For fans with short memories, the Vikings were involved in a draft-day trade last year that gave the Denver Broncos a fourth-round pick (No. 121 overall) after the Vikings moved up in the fourth round to get Brian Robison. As part of that trade, the Broncos gave the Vikings their sixth and seventh round picks last year and their third-round pick this year.

For Denver, they have to be pretty pleased with the pick – defensive tackle Marcus Thomas. While he admittedly hit the rookie wall late in the season, he started five games and could be penned in as a starter for 2008. From that perspective, the Broncos have to be happy. But for the Vikings, an extra third-round pick gives the team considerably more flexibility to make a move up in the draft if they see a player they covet and have to part with an extra pick to get it done.

The Vikings were pretty pleased with themselves at the time they swung the deal. At that time, they already had Adrian Peterson, Sidney Rice, Marcus McCauley and Robison. Whether they would have found a diamond with that fourth-round pick last year is still up in the air. But that’s the past. In an era of the NFL where everyone can afford to buy free agents and draft picks are viewed as currency around the league, having an extra pick in the top three rounds is something a lot of teams covet. Having that extra pick could be the difference in making a trade for a veteran player, moving up or just staying put and trusting that their instincts on drafting will be as hot this year as it has been over the last couple of seasons.

Denver got what it wanted out of the trade. Now it’s the Vikings' turn to get their biggest piece of the trade coming their way.

SUNDAY NOTES
* The Vikings are going to host Minnesota Vikings All-Pro Dad, Father & Kids Experience from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 12. Paul Allen of KFAN Radio and Vikings play-by-play announcer will emcee the event and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and former assistant coach Dean Dalton will share their family experiences. The program, presented by Thrivent Financial, is designed to help highlight and build stronger relationships between fathers and their children. The event will take place at Winter Park and the registration cost is $10 per father and up to four children. Pre-registering is required and it is recommended for children ages five and under. For more information, go to www.AllProDad.com or call toll free at 1-800-956-8300.
* Thank God for YouTube. The internet video site has an 8 minute, 27 second clip entitled Adrian Peterson vs. Darren McFadden, which compares highlights of both players' college careers in yet another effort to draw the comparisons between the two. If McFadden is anywhere close to A.D., whoever drafts him will be glad they did.
* Jealousy is great motivation. There is a rumor coming out of Chicago that the Bears might be willing to trade up if McFadden falls out of the top five overall picks. Perhaps seeing how much better Minnesota's Adrian Peterson is than Chicago's Adrian Peterson (not to mention Cedric Benson) may be the source of the rumor mill churning overtime.