It’s safe to say Kirk Cousins is considered a polarizing player in the eyes of Vikings fans.
Some people want to move on from Cousins, despite a year in which he improved. An obvious alternative to him would be to get a player through the draft.
Though Tua Tagovailoa and others seem enticing, the complications with Cousins’ contract, in addition to the unknowns of a rookie, make it too difficult for the Vikings to find a new quarterback.
The team could restructure with Cousins or sign him to an extension, but if they did that, it would be because the quarterback is taking less money, so the Vikings can assemble talent around him, in order to take the next step. Doing that is building the team around Cousins, not making it so we can get rid of him.
What are the options for trading him? There’s a no-trade clause in his contract, so he would have to wave that to make the trade possible.
Cousins will likely not want to wave that clause to go play for a team that wants him, considering the teams that would. It would likely be a team like the Chargers, which are a year or two away from contending.
There just aren’t that many teams that are as good as Minnesota and would want Cousins.
It also seems like there could be three quarterbacks taken before pick No. 10: Joe Burrow, Tagovailoa, and Justin Herbert.
Minnesota might be able to trade an asset and a first-round pick for another team’s pick that’s better. Sure, doing that might get the Vikings one of the three aforementioned quarterbacks, but Minnesota lacks depth at so many other positions, that getting rid of the first-round pick and possibly a player for a better passer just is not the right thing to prioritize.
Could the Vikings wait in the draft to take a player that’s more of a project? Of course. Should they try and risk giving up talent for a highly rated quarterback in the first round of the draft? I don’t think so.
