Getty Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is on the final year of his current contract.
The Minnesota Vikings declining to draft a first-round quarterback in this year’s draft again leaves the organization without a clear direction for life after Kirk Cousins, who enters the final year of his contract in 2023.
As long as Cousins is under center, Minnesota will not find itself in an advantageous position to land a top prospect. Cousins is a proficient veteran quarterback who, with his supporting cast, guarantees at least seven wins a season.
The Vikings realistically would have to mortgage the future to trade up and land a top prospect so long as Cousins is at quarterback. His floor has kept Minnesota competitive, selling seats through December in the team’s pursuit of the postseason. However, Cousins’ ceiling has produced just one playoff win in five years. The Vikings have yet to return to the NFC Championship game since an appearance with Case Keenum in 2017.
Minnesota may have to venture to find its next quarterback another way, one who ideally is on a rookie-scale contract to free up cap space for other areas of the team or a veteran who can elevate the offense.
In choosing the latter, there is a former No. 1 overall pick who could become available by trade next offseason.
Cardinals QB Kyler Murray a Potential Trade Target in 2024
This is a long shot, but also a thought exercise that could be in play for the Vikings: trading for Kyler Murray.
The Arizona Cardinals are undergoing massive changes within the organization after the ousting of head coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim. The Cardinals were the hottest team in the league to start the 2021 season, winning their first seven games and appearing to be a true contender in the NFC. Murray was garnering Most Valuable Player chatter before he missed three games due to injury.
But after a disappointing 2022 season, the divide between Murray and the organization grew as the former 2019 Offensive Rookie of the Year’s relationship with Kingsbury deteriorated over frustrations with the offense.
The new regime hasn’t quite shown they’re prioritizing their relationship with Murray either, hiring a defensive-minded head coach in Johnathon Gannon this offseason. Murray has admittedly shown moments of immaturity, lashing out on the sidelines, but those outbursts could be argued as a passion to win after he demanded more freedom at the line of scrimmage.
Purple Insider’s Matthew Coller floated the possibility, considering that Murray, with a competent coach in Kevin O’Connell, could relinquish his power grab in a dysfunctional Cardinals organization and just play ball in a well-designed offense brimming with playmakers.
“I don’t love Kyler Murray, but Kyler Murray with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and K.J. Osborn and T.J. Hockenson and a coach who knows what he’s doing — I never believed that Kliff Kingsbury knew what he was doing. If that ends up happening, that Johnathon Gannon is a mess there and Arizona screws everything up, and he demands a trade, you never know where this is going to go in a year.” Coller said on a May 2 edition of the Purple Insider podcast.
Vikings Must Mortgage Future for Next Franchise QB if Cousins Stays in Minnesota
In the Cousins era, Minnesota hasn’t picked below the 18th spot in the first round.
His floor keeps the Vikings from tanking for a pick that could be used to draft bonafide franchise quarterback prospects like Bryce Young (No. 1 overall, 2023), Trevor Lawrence (No. 1 overall, 2021), Joe Burrow (No. 1 overall, 2020) or Justin Herbert (No. 6 overall, 2020).
The Vikings don’t need to crater to the worst team in the league, but trading from inside the top 10 is far more feasible than having to mortgage the future and jump nearly 20 spots.
Minnesota was rumored to be willing to trade up to the fifth spot to land Anthony Richardson, whose generational athleticism proved enough for the Indianapolis Colts to overlook his lack of playing experience in college.
A prospect like Richardson doesn’t come around every year, and the Vikings aren’t desperate to just pick any quarterback after declining to pick Will Levis in the first round.
The next quarterback the Vikings pick will have to be special with O’Connell being the ultimate decision-maker.
However, the Vikings won’t be in that territory to land a special talent without taking a significant gamble to trade up so long as Cousins is under center.