Minnesota acquired Detroit's 1968 17th-round choice, No. 445…
Minnesota acquired Detroit's 1968 17th-round choice, No. 445 Bill Hull, while the Lions received Minnesota's 1969 16th-rounder, No. 407 John Stahl. Team draft histories and the draft-pick transaction records align on the exchange. Neither selection produced an NFL contributor, so the trade amounted to a swap of very late lottery tickets with no meaningful separation in eventual value.
Detroit Lions Received
- pick 1969 16th round pick (#407-John Stahl)
Minnesota Vikings Received
- pick 1968 17th round pick (#445-Bill Hull (b))
Trade Analysis
What Changed Hands
On January 31, 1968, Minnesota and Detroit swapped distant future draft capital. The Vikings received the Lions' 1968 17th-round selection, No. 445, which they used on Tennessee Tech guard Bill Hull. Detroit received Minnesota's 1969 16th-round selection, No. 407, and used it on Fresno State lineman John Stahl. The transaction record and the teams' draft histories line up on the picks and players.
What Minnesota Got
Minnesota added one more selection near the very end of the 1968 draft. Hull was the 445th player chosen, and the available professional record does not show him becoming an NFL regular. The cost was similarly small: a 16th-round choice in the following draft. For a Vikings team willing to trade timing for an extra immediate selection, the move created another chance to find depth without sacrificing premium capital.
What Detroit Got
Detroit delayed its dart throw by a year and moved one round earlier in nominal terms, selecting Stahl 407th overall in 1969. That pick likewise did not produce meaningful NFL value. Because both choices sat in portions of the draft that no longer exist in the modern league, the practical stakes were extremely low. There is no downstream performance that creates a convincing advantage for either side.
Final Verdict
This is the definition of an even low-value pick swap. Minnesota got Hull, Detroit got Stahl, and neither became a productive NFL asset. Both teams receive C grades: each preserved a late-round opportunity, each spent it on a player who did not generate lasting league value, and neither surrendered anything substantial enough to turn the outcome into a loss.