Yeah, but the only way it's unprotected in 2012 is if we finish with a top-3 pick in 2009, and then a top-2 pick in both 2010 and 2011. The odds of that happening are infinitesimally small.
Heck, if we *do* end up with top-three picks in all of 2009, 2010, and 2011, this team should be sitting pretty in 2012, regardless of whether we have to surrender our #1 that year or not.
(There's no indication that Minnesota has the option of "rolling over" this pick or exercising it at its option. It's very rare that teams trade draft rights like that.)