CBS Sports Claims 2 Vikings Could Be Shopped at Trade Deadline
When an NFL team hits a 1-4 record, has its best player on injured reserve, and the quarterback is on an expiring contract, folks wonder if a fire sale is afoot.
All of those criteria fit the Minnesota Vikings at the moment, as the club travels to Soldier Field this weekend for a showdown with the Chicago Bears.
CBS Sports Claims 2 Vikings Could Be Shopped at Trade Deadline
Both teams are 1-4 through five weeks.
And if the Vikings lose that game or the next at home against the mighty San Francisco 49ers, most believe the Vikings may indeed shapeshift into sellers by the league’s trade deadline, October 31st.
CBS Sports claims two notable Vikings could be shopped, completely changing the dynamic of the purple team’s 2023 season.
Kirk Cousins
By far, Cousins is the most intriguing trade asset on the Vikings roster, envisioned to be traded elsewhere by some in a deal involving the Atlanta Falcons, New York Jets, or New England Patriots, to name a handful.
CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin believes the Jets will come knocking and wrote about Cousins’ trade value, “He has final say over any potential deal thanks to a no-trade clause, and odds are, even if the Vikings found a deal they liked, he wouldn’t sign off on starting over in a new system midseason.”
Cousins did not sound interested — at all — in a trade this week when a reporter asked if he’d consider waiving the clause. The 35-year-old replied, “You know I am just very focused on the Bears and going 1-0 this week, and anything else is not worth my time or energy or attention.”
Benjamin concluded about the Cousins trade theory, “But everything else suggests a relocation makes sense; Minnesota is in an admitted ‘competitive rebuild,’ sputtering amid a 1-4 start, and Cousins, who remains a borderline top-10 pocket passer despite a spotty big-game resume, is scheduled to hit free agency after the season anyway.”
The Vikings could likely fetch a 2nd-Round draft pick and change for Cousins if Benjamin’s trade idea is accurate.
Danielle Hunter
Perhaps more likely to experience a trade by the deadline because NFL teams always seek pass-rushing support, Hunter was the next on CBS Sports’ list.
Benjamin hypothesized the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Jacksonville Jaguars as Hunter landing spots and explained, “For years, Hunter and the Vikings have wrestled over the pass rusher’s contract, always coming to a tentative resolution. Now, with Minnesota 1-4 and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah stripping the defense down under new coordinator Brian Flores, it could finally be time for Hunter to be auctioned. He’s off to a hot start as Flores’ lone edge-rushing weapon with six sacks in five games, but that could also make him the Vikings’ most feasible trade chip ahead of his scheduled 2024 free agency.”
Hunter ranks second leaguewide in sacks through five weeks and 20th in QB pressures.
The Vikings would turn to reservist outside linebackers D.J. Wonnum, Patrick Jones, Andre Carter II, and perhaps Luiji Vilain if Hunter was traded, with a healthy serving of Marcus Davenport on Sundays.
And make no mistake, any trade involving Cousins or Hunter would signify a white flag of surrender for this 2023 iteration of Vikings.
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 Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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