The Minnesota Vikings are 6-2 and in a fight for the NFC North division. Moreover, the team made a Hail Mary trade, sending a 2027 third-round pick to the Las Vegas Raiders for veteran QB Kirk Cousins.
Minnesota’s QB play has been regressing midway through the season. Kyler Murray hasn’t been able to get the Vikings offense on an upward trajectory, and Carson Wentz was a disaster in Week 9 against the Buffalo Bills.
As a result, the Vikings were forced to make a trade to get a new starter to try to get an offense that can complement their championship-caliber defense. Cousins knows the offense and the playmakers on the team like Justin Jefferson, so this move could work out for Minnesota.
Nonetheless, there’s also the possibility that this trade fails and the Vikings miss the playoffs after starting 6-0. If that were to happen, FOX Sports’ Jason McIntyre issued a prediction on head coach Kevin O’Connell’s future in Minnesota.
“I like the trade for both sides,” McIntyre said in a Nov. 11 video from FOX Sports Radio. “If I’m Minnesota and Kevin O’Connell, I do wonder if I’m going to catch heat because [the Vikings] got this potentially generational defense. We don’t want to waste it.
“Brian Flores could move on after this year. Then [O’Connell could] lose [his] defensive guru. [The Vikings] still don’t have a quarterback. Shucks. [O’Connell] better get [the Vikings] to the playoffs because this could fall apart fast. I would give it at least a 20-25 percent chance that Kevin O’Connell is fired at the end of the season.”
KOC to Blame for QB Room Before Kirk Cousins Trade
Moreover, McIntyre puts the blame on O’Connell for the state of the Vikings QB room before the trade for Cousins. As a result, that should at least warm the seat for the Vikings’ head coach.
“Kyler Murray was benched in Arizona,” McIntyre added. “Nobody wanted him. There were no takers around the league. Kevin O’Connell said, I’ll take him in. He gets hurt in the second or third series of the season, comes back, and is very mid. It’s going to be, just wait till they’re healthy. They’re just never healthy. Kyler Murray gets hurt again.
“This could be a soft benching, for all we know. Carson Wentz is atrocious, and now it’s like, does this guy know quarterbacks? If he knows quarterbacks, why did we let Sam Darnold go? Well, that was the GM’s fault. Okay, well, you wanted Kyler Murray. What’s going on? Why does the offense suck?”
Could Vikings Consider Trading Justin Jefferson in Offseason
Meanwhile, “Purple Daily” co-host Phil Mackey stated that the Vikings have to do what it takes to land Cousins and let that be their Hail Mary. If they land Cousins and it doesn’t work out, it might be time to consider trading Jefferson this upcoming offseason.
“It’s going to cost a second-round pick,” Mackey said in a Nov. 10 video from SKOR North. “That’s an overpay because we could have had him without giving up any draft capital back in March. Instead, we chose, or you chose, because I wasn’t here yet, to sign Kyler Murray.
“If it doesn’t work, I trade Justin Jefferson this offseason to the Chiefs, the 49ers, or another contender in need of a weapon that would give me two first-round picks and some change for a player I still believe is a Hall of Fame-caliber, high-end wide receiver who’s in the wrong system.”
Kevin O’Connell Receives Troubling Prediction About Vikings’ Future