Just in: Vikings Prepared for Blockbuster Trade to Replace Cousins, Insider Reveals
Minnesota Vikings fans are still reeling from the idea that their starting quarterback could be the next Christian thinker, but don’t worry. If the Vikings do indeed intend to move on from Kirk Cousins, they intend to acquire a promising quarterback.
The Star Tribune’s Ben Gossling reports that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s new Vikings regime tends to acquire top quarterback prospects through trades rather than settling for prospects that go 11th. “If they get one, it’s going to be someone we love, and if they don’t, we won’t,” Gosling told KFAN’s Paul Allen on Jan. 23. “I don’t think they’ll mind if they have to give up a few first-round picks down the road.”
The Vikings have never drafted a QB in the top 10.
The NFL has shown that not all first round players are created equal. There’s a good primer on the top five picks and a slide show for the first round.
There’s no evidence that the Vikings’ first-round history has given the team a decade of solid franchise players. Ponder, a quarterback taken 12th overall in the 2011 draft, never signed a second contract in Minnesota. Teddy Bridgewater, the 32nd overall pick in 2014, suffered a serious leg injury and was released. Selected 11th overall in 1999, Daunte Culpepper is the only quarterback taken in the first round since 1977.
Cousins was signed as the final piece of a playoff-ready roster in 2018. But after years of contraction, Minnesota needs reinforcements in several areas, and a rookie contract gives them the maximum flexibility they need to sign valuable veterans in free agency.
“They obviously thought, ‘We have to find someone to fly our flag for the next 10 years. If it takes a long time, so be it,” Gossling added. “I don’t think they’re going to go into it and say, ‘If this is QB5 and we’re okay with it, let’s take it anyway.’
If the Vikings front office can keep the team ahead of the competition, one possible outcome would be Cousins’ extension. But even after a 13-win season in 2022, the Vikings were still searching for their quarterback of the future. “They saw that last year, they probably didn’t have enough capital to get three or four [to get Anthony Richardson]. “Richardson, Stroud and Young liked those three,” Gossling said.
The Vikings opened the door for the Cousins to departure.
Cousins’ six seasons in Minnesota were marked by a 50-37-1 regular season record and consistency at the quarterback position. But all the Vikings had to do was beat the New Orleans Saints in 2020 and fill out a roster ready to win. Since then, extending Cousins has been more than just an attempt to give the team a competitive edge. It has atrophied due to poor outline and lack of cap space. The Vikings have nine players under the age of 27 who could become regular contributors. The 2022 draft class did not perform as expected and was revealed to be lacking in depth at the end of the season. Giving up on Cousins, an avenue the Vikings opened by not cutting him last offseason, may seem like a step backwards, but general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said in his year-end press conference that it doesn’t matter when the step is taken. . Behind. The ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl.
“It doesn’t matter if you take a step back in the short term if you don’t think you’re close,” Adofo-Mensah told The Athletic. Moving on from Cousins would allow the Vikings to terminate the veteran quarterback’s contract and reload the roster with free agents who are rewarded with additional financial flexibility. That’s something Adofo-Mensah advocated for on behalf of the Vikings in previous negotiations with Cousins.
Whether the Vikings can pull off a successful deal will be determined in March, when free agency opens and Cousins can sign with another team.
