The Minnesota Vikings offseason will have plenty of twists and turns over the next couple of weeks, but one of the biggest storylines will be what they do with their quarterback position.
While Kirk Cousins currently has the starting job locked down for 2020, Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller has heard that Minnesota is going to do ‘serious work’ on the incoming quarterback class in April’s NFL Draft.
“Addressing the offensive line is a need, but I’m told the team will do serious work on the quarterback class,” Miller said in his latest scouting notebook.
The Vikings quarterback situation has a little more gray area than it appears with Cousins entering the final year of a three-year, $84 million deal signed in March 2018. With the 31-year-old having his most efficient season as a starter last season with 26 TD and 6 INT, the conversation around Cousins has been mostly positive leading into any potential talks regarding a contract extension.
#Vikings GM Rick Spielman: Kirk Cousins entering a system for a second year in a row, we see him improving even more. The other thing Kirk answered last year was, can he win the big game? You see him lead us in Dallas … bring us back vs. Denver … in New Orleans."
— Andrew Krammer (@Andrew_Krammer) February 25, 2020
The Vikings also have praised Cousins as recently as last January, when Mike Zimmer told reporters to “tell people he’s our guy,” following the Vikings playoff victory over the New Orleans Saints.
However, this year’s draft class seems like a great time to evaluate all options with Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, LSU’s Joe Burrow, Oregon’s Justin Herbert and Utah State’s Jordan Love currently in the conversation as first round picks.
There’s also the possibility of Georgia’s Jake Fromm or Washington’s Jacob Eason forcing themselves into the first round or perhaps a later round option such as Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts making his way into the conversation.
With quarterbacks conducting their on-field workouts in Indianapolis on Thursday night, it wouldn’t be a surprise if one of those names were connected with the Vikings in the weeks leading up to the draft even if the Vikings do reach a short-term extensions with Cousins to free up cap room.
It’s been assumed that the Vikings would be involved in this quarterback carousel that will consume the NFL this offseason, but with pen being put to paper, it could mean the future of the Vikings could look much different moving forward.
