No, there aren’t any trade rumors about Kirk Cousins. There is literally zero evidence that he is or could be on the trade blocks. But does the narrative surrounding the Minnesota Vikings quarterback change if the Vikings continue losing?
Guess we’ll find out in time, but that hypothetical situation was brought up during Tuesday’s episode of Vikings Live with Matthew Coller, on which Coller wondered what would happen if the Vikings lose one of the next two games and fall to 2-4 or even 1-5.
“OK, let me make a case here,” said Coller.
“The Miami Dolphins have no answers at quarterback…they are 1-3 with a team with high expectations. Tua (Tagovailoa) is bad and hurt. As much as I liked him coming out of college he’s just been not good, and he’s hurt, and he was hurt in college. They’re playing Jacoby Brissett with a good team. Every other team in that division is 1-3, they might believe they can turn it around and get into the playoffs.”
Coller also mentioned the Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts, all of whom are dealing with injuries, off-field issues and overall bad QB play.
The Texans are starting Davis Mills while Deshaun Watson is investigated after 22 women accused him of sexual misconduct in civil lawsuits. Ben Roethlisberger is 39 years old and dealing with a hip injury. The Colts are burdened with the oft-injured Carson Wentz and unproven backups behind him.
“There are enough of these teams that make me think, ‘Is somebody interested? Could somebody?’ And you never know who’s going to get hurt in between. Those are AFC teams, too,” he said.
“We’ve talked so much about the coach and the general manager, but where they stand with Cousins, if you go to 1-5, I mean, what’s the point in sticking around if you can get anyone to take him? And at that point you know that you’re drafting a quarterback very high next year,” said Coller.
Now, the odds of the Vikings slipping to 1-5 seem low considering the winless Detroit Lions visit U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, but the deeper the Vikings fall in the hole, the more pressure there will be to make drastic changes. The team could choose to fire a coach or GM at any point, but the NFL trade deadline hits Nov. 2.
Heck, the Vikings could very well be 4-3 when the trade deadline hits and this hypothetical will be dust in the wind, but that will require beating the Lions, Panthers and Cowboys. Do that and the Vikings can worry about shedding or accepting Cousins’ $45 million cap in 2022 during the offseason.
You can watch the full episode of Vikings Live with Matthew Collerhere.
