It must be rough: lose a player to a major injury … and then go out and get a player who was once highly regarded enough to be the first player overall chosen in the draft.
The Vikings have done that not once but twice this season — first getting 2010 No. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford in a trade following Teddy Bridgewater's season-ending knee injury and then Tuesday signing 2008 No. 1 overall pick Jake Long in an attempt to bolster an offensive line that has been both injury plagued and often ineffective.
Minnesota teams have a history of circling back to get top picks — some more successfully than others. Examples? (Keep in mind, these are not players originally drafted by Minnesota teams, just the ones who were later acquired).
The Vikings also did it with 1990 No. 1 overall pick Jeff George.
The Timberwolves acquired two No. 1 overall picks (Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett) in 2014 as part of the Kevin Love trade. They also dabbled in Joe Smith (1995) and Michael Olowokandi (1998) on the rebound.
The Twins traded for 2003 No. 1 pick Delmon Young in 2007 and also gave 1992 No. 1 overall pick Phil Nevin one more shot in 2006.
A decade after being the No. 1 overall pick in 1993, Alexandre Daigle scored 20 goals for the 2003-04 Wild. [And as a commenter notes, 1990 No. 1 pick Owen Nolan finished his NHL career with the Wild as well].
Former Gophers star Janel McCarville, the No. 1 pick in the 2005 WNBA draft, landed with the Lynx later in her career. The Lynx also briefly had 2003 No. 1 pick LaToya Thomas.