The Vikings is a concept choice. Per Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (on Twitter), the Vikings forfeited a seventh round in this year’s draft (No. 242).
“A mistake has been made, we take responsibility and we respect the league’s decision and will move forward,” general manager Rick Spielman said in a statement.
Per Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com, the penalty is a violation from 2019. There was some kind of violation of a training group’s contract, but it’s uncertain who the player was or what the violation was.
Three drivers of Vikings were also fined $ 10,000 per Smith.
A few more draft notes from across the NFL:
- Not the Saints neither Raiders will lose a draft due to violations of COVID-19 policy, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. “They do not forfeit them,” McCarthy said. “No team loses the choices.” According to the reporter, there were rumors that New Orleans would lose a seventh round after a “maskless locker room celebration,” and the Raiders were expected to lose a sixth round due to multiple offenses. While the NFL provided no context about their ruling, Florio assumes that both organizations appealed their fines and were successful.
- When the NFL announced the compensatory choice for the 2021 draft, the Patriots did not pick a fifth round. However, a source confirmed to PFT that New England has indeed received a fifth player in the upcoming draft. According to Smith, the NFL ‘realized a mistake in calculating the complicated formula for determining compensatory choice’, which led to the extra Patriots choice.
- Thanks to the aforementioned compensation choice audit by the NFL, the Valke move according to Smith also two slots in the fifth round. Furthermore, while the NFL only allows the addition of 32 compensatory picks per year, this time they made an exception. Thanks to the extra choice of the Patriots concept, the Put away would not normally have received the final compensatory choice; the NFL and NFL Players Association allowed Chicago to finally retain the choice.