Kyle Sloter has a conspiracy theory and he’s not the first quarterback with ties to the Minnesota Vikings to speak on it.
“By the looks of QB depth charts these days, I should have worked harder to be best friends with the starter instead of actually competing and playing well,” Sloter wrote in a tweet Thursday. “Teams value average backup play so the starter isn’t threatened.”
By the looks of QB depth charts these days, I should have worked harder to be best friends with the starter instead of actually competing and playing well. Teams value average backup play so the starter isnt threatened. #bitter take of the day lol.
— Kyle Sloter (@KyleSloter) August 31, 2023
Sloter, who wasn’t cut because he wasn’t on a roster, noted at the end of his tweet that his feelings qualify as the “bitter take of the day.” But he’s not the first player with ties to the Vikings to claim NFL teams will pass on talent to avoid a quarterback controversy.
Something very similar popped up when Canadian Football League star Bo Levi Mitchell went on a verbal rant about the Vikings not giving him a chance because, in his words, they were afraid of putting pressure on Kirk Cousins. It was October 2019 and Levi Mitchell was recalling what he said in December 2018 when he worked out for Minnesota and was asked what he could do for the team.
“I was like, ‘Well, for one, I’ve never been anywhere in football and not won a championship as a starter. High school, DI, DI-AA, now here in the CFL. Everywhere I’ve ever been I’ve won a championship within the first three years I’ve been there. I can help you do that. I’m going to come in here, I’m going to take Kirk’s job,'” Levi Mitchell recalled answering.
“He was like, ‘Oh, no, no, n-n-n-no, we don’t want you to take Kirk’s job. We want you to come in here, help him with his eyes, tell him what you see, do everything you can to make him a better quarterback. But we need a good quarterback room, we don’t want you to cause controversy. At that moment I was like, ‘Well, I’m not signing with the Minnesota Vikings.’
“I don’t understand that thought process. All that tells me is there’s a culture in that building right now that, ‘Hey, your job is secure because of the money we paid you. Don’t worry about anything you do or the decisions you make or anything the media says, just do what we tell you to do and you’re going to be fine.’ It’s mind-blowing. You don’t even want a guy that’s pushing him or creating competition.”
In 2018, Cousins was in his second season with Minnesota and the ink was still wet on his three-year, $84 million fully guaranteed contract extension. Needless to say, Levi Mitchell has never played a snap in the NFL and it’s probably not because teams are afraid he’s so good that he’ll make starting quarterbacks uncomfortable.
Sloter bounced around the NFL from 2017 to 2022, getting opportunities with the Broncos (2017), Vikings (2017-19, 2021), Cardinals (2019), Lions (2019-20), Bears (2020), Raiders (2021) and Jaguars (2022).
Was he just not quite what teams were looking for or were teams afraid of making their starting QB nervous?
