MINNEAPOLIS — The Vikings 13-9 victory over the Bears Sunday to end the 2014 regular season impacted the 2015 opponents and will affect the slot that Minnesota is scheduled to select from in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Minnesota finished 7-9, with the same mark as the Cleveland Browns and the New Orleans Saints, and is scheduled to pick 11th on April 30, the first evening of the three-day selection process.
A strength of schedule tiebreaker that is implemented positioned the Browns for the 12th spot and Saints at 13th in the first round, and the teams are scheduled to alternate order of selections in subsequent rounds.
Tampa Bay (2-14) is scheduled to pick first, edging Tennessee (2-14) in a tiebreaker, because the Buccaneers' strength of schedule in 2014 was weaker than the Titans.
Jacksonville is slotted for third, followed by Oakland at fourth, Washington at fifth, the New York Jets at sixth, Chicago at seventh, Atlanta at eighth, the New York Giants at ninth and St. Louis at 10th.
Miami is scheduled to select 14th, followed by San Francisco.
If the Vikings remain at 11, it will be their first time to select from that spot since choosing Daunte Culpepper in 1999 after getting that selection in a trade with Washington. Minnesota also selected defensive end Derrick Alexander 11th overall in 1995.
