And it could be a notable one
Since we haven’t got a whole lot in the way of actual, breaking Minnesota Vikings news to talk about at the moment, let’s talk for a minute about the 2026 NFL Draft. Specifically, what extra picks the Minnesota Vikings could get from the Compensatory Pick process.
As discussed in previous posts here, the Vikings are currently set to receive two Compensatory selections in 2026. They’re slated to receive a third-round pick for the loss of Sam Darnold and a fifth-round pick for the loss of Daniel Jones. The Jones selection could, from my understanding, become a fourth-round pick based on his playing time in Indianapolis. I believe that I previously said it was a fourth-round pick regardless, which was my fault.
However, the Vikings could be in line to receive a third extra pick in next year’s selection meeting, according to Nick Korte of Over the Cap, who is the best source out there for tracking these sorts of things.
I was curious as to why all of the sudden players like Tremon Smith and Tre’Davious White and Trent Sherfield were now making the cut for 2026 compensatory pick qualification.
It’s because all the June 1 cuts got cleared out.
There’s a bug in the program I’ll need to fix later.
— Nick Korte (@nickkorte) June 4, 2025
It’s been an utter mess of a logjam as to which of the ~$3M APY players could qualify as 2026 compensatory free agents.
There will be high variance in the number of outcomes that could happen with the comp picks for this next draft.
— Nick Korte (@nickkorte) June 4, 2025
According to Korte, due to a bug in his program that, apparently, did not properly account for “June 1st” cuts, some players who did not previously qualify for Compensatory pick status are on there, and one of those people is receiver Trent Sherfield, who signed with the Denver Broncos this offseason after spending last year in purple.
Korte’s new projections have the Vikings receiving a seventh-round pick to compensate for the loss of Sherfield, and not just any seventh-round pick. If I’m reading the projections correctly, the Vikings would receive the last Compensatory pick awarded by the NFL, which would be the famed “Mr. Irrelevant” pick as the last overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Vikings have picked in the Mr. Irrelevant spot twice in team history, but it’s been a while since they’ve done so. The first time came in 1977 when they selected Colorado running back Jim Kelleher with the 335th overall pick, a twelfth-round selection. (Yes, the NFL Draft used to run for 12 rounds, and some years even more picks than that.) They also used the 335th, and final, overall pick in 1989 to select Ohio State wide receiver Everett Ross. Neither Kelleher nor Ross ever suited up for a regular-season game for the Vikings.
Since 1976, the last pick of the NFL Draft has been celebrated with “Irrelevant Week” in Newport Beach, California. This includes events such as a trip to Disneyland, a golf tournament, and a roast of the draftee, among other things.
I think it would be kind of cool to see the Vikings draft a Mr. Irrelevant again, and if Nick Korte’s projections are as accurate as they normally are, they’re going to get that opportunity this coming April.
