Kyle Sloter Agreed with You a Few Years Ago
Dustin Baker
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Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyle Sloter lives in a cherished arena of Vikings lore.
Sloter was the team’s QB3 during the preseason in 2018 and 2019 and performed gloriously in exhibition contests. And because Minnesota never employs a Nick Foles-like QB2, fans incessantly demanded Sloter get the nod to back up QB1 Kirk Cousins.
Under Mike Zimmer, Minnesota’s coaching staff never listened, though. Sloter was relegated to practice-squad duty as the team opted for the QB2 services of Trevor Siemian and Sean Mannion. Fans seethed.
Now, Sloter is unsurprisingly ripping it up in the newly-formed USFL. Sloter’s New Orleans Breakers have a 6-3 record, he leads the league in passing yards, and the former Viking is vying for the league’s MVP award.
What does this mean? Well, Vikings fans feel vindicated.
And Sloter agrees with what Vikings faithful believed in 2019 — he should’ve been the backup quarterback over Sean Mannion. Speaking to Chris Tomasson from the Pioneer Press this week, Sloter stated, “Sean Mannion was two years my senior, and I was just a young guy so that’s a big gap in knowledge. Although I think my play was superior, I think they saw in Sean the ability to help Kirk in the classroom, and that was valued more.”
For three seasons — and perhaps four if Mannion keeps Kellen Mond at bay for QB2 this summer — the Vikings have stubbornly clung to Mannion’s QB2 commitment. When Mannion enters games, his performance is wildly vanilla, especially compared to Cousins, indicating a different QB2 (like Mond or Sloter) has to be a better option. Still, Minnesota has fancied Mannion as the man behind Cousins.
So, for fans’ sanity sake, at least the proprietor of the on-the-field production is in agreement.
And Sloter may have a USFL MVP trophy to tout within the next month. Around the same time, onlookers of the Vikings will begin to learn if Mannion is “the guy” at QB2 once again — or if Mond culminates his 3rd-Round draft stock with the attainment of the QB2 gig.
If the Vikings are somehow underwhelmed by Mannion or Mond, whispers of Colin Kaepernick have also tickled the digital stratosphere. Kaepernick worked out for the Las Vegas Raiders in May — his first honest-to-goodness tryout in years — and the Vikings new general manager was a coworker with the San Francisco 49ers for a few years. In theory, if Mannion and Mond weren’t up for the task, Minnesota could give Kaepernick an audition. But he’ll be 35 this autumn, not playing an NFL snap since the 2016 season.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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