Not many people, yours truly included, believed Rick Spielman when he said that the trade market for the third overall pick was starting to heat up.

Oops.

The Minnesota Vikings did, indeed, pull off the deal for the third pick, getting three extra picks from the Cleveland Browns to move back one spot. Now, rather than picking third overall, the Vikings pick fourth overall, and gain an extra fourth-round pick, an extra fifth-round pick, and an extra seventh-round pick in the process.

Obviously this is a huge deal for the Vikings. The Browns, it appears, moved up in order to select Alabama running back Trent Richardson. This changes nothing for Minnesota because. . .well, because they weren't going to take Richardson anyway. Their pick is still going to be USC offensive tackle Matt Kalil or LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne, so the Vikings got three extra draft selections for, essentially, free.

Have to give Rick Spielman credit for this. The Vikings now have 13 picks in this year's selection process, including four in the fourth round. I'm guessing that some of those picks could be used to move up at some point, but we'll have to see how it goes.

For more on the Minnesota Vikings, head over to The Daily Norseman. For more news and information on the NFL, head over to SB Nation's NFL hub and for more on the NFL Draft as the hours tick closer, head to SB Nation's specialized NFL Draft hub.