2012 NFL Draft: Minnesota Vikings Open to Trading No. 3 Pick Is No Surprise

Justin Blackmon, Morris Claiborne and Matt Kalil are all elite NFL draft prospects. They're all the top players at their respective positions, each of which are needs for the Minnesota Vikings, and are guaranteed top-10 picks.

Sitting at No. 3 overall, one would think that the Vikings will come away with someone that they need.

They don't see it that way though and it is actually no surprise.

Vikings general manager Rick Spielman sat in on the NFL Network set at the Senior Bowl and said:

"

It will be, I think, very busy on draft day. We’re the third overall pick, so we’ll be looking at all the options. If someone wants to come up and get our pick, we’re going to be more than willing to listen.

"

The Minnesota Vikings didn't finish 2011 with only three wins because they were unlucky; they finished with three wins because they were a bad team. They had an unmotivated Donovan McNabb under center before turning to a rookie QB, as well as a rash of injuries, a mediocre offensive line and a horrendous secondary.

They could address one of those needs with the No. 3 pick, but Spielman has wisely opened himself and his team up for a possible trade-down scenario.

For starters, Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III is going to be a highly sought-after commodity come draft day.

Many believe the St. Louis Rams are the ideal candidates to trade down from No. 2 (and they really should trade down), but there are those who believe they'll hold onto the pick.

In the event that does happen, the Vikings then hold all the leverage in the RG3 race and can turn one pick and one potential player into a bounty of picks.

The Cleveland Browns will not pass up on RG3 if he were to drop to No. 4. Teams like Washington, Miami and Seattle could all seriously entertain the idea of moving up in front of the Browns in order to land the Baylor QB ahead of Cleveland.

In doing so, the Vikings would also take themselves out of the way of reaching for a prospect.

USC offensive tackle Matt Kalil is a stud, but he's not on the level of a Jake Long or Joe Thomas-like prospect when they came out. Justin Blackmon is going to be a playmaker (he or Kalil will go to the Rams at No. 2 if they don't trade out), but he's not on the level of Calvin Johnson (second overall), A.J. Green (fourth overall) or even Julio Jones (sixth overall) when they entered the draft.

Morris Claiborne is a potential lock-down cornerback in the NFL with elite cover skills, but teams struggle coming to grips with selecting a cornerback so high.

Basically, the players on the board for the Vikings at No. 3 don't hold great value in the big picture. They are the best this draft has to offer, but Minnesota can still trade down with a team like Washington (No. 6) or Miami (No. 8) and still possibly land one of those three players.

In addition to filling a need, they'll have added picks to slide down the board and will be able to use those to help better the team immediately.

The Vikings could still entertain the option of trading down even if the Rams do trade out of No. 2, but Spielman has made the right decision by basically putting the No. 3 pick on the block.

Come draft day, things will get crazy quick once Andrew Luck comes off the board. The Vikings have now thrown themselves right into the mix of the madness and, for once, they did so for all the right reasons.

You can find me chuckin' the rock on Twitter too.