Kyle Rudolph Claims Vikings Should Explore Trading QB1
From the very moment the NFL world began to realize that Aaron Rodgers’ Monday Night Football injury in Week 1 was grim, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins was linked to the New York Jets.
Then, the Vikings lost in Week 2, and the chatter really heated up.
Kyle Rudolph Claims Vikings Should Explore Trading QB1
ESPN, and Mike Greenberg, a Jets fan, in particular, have led the charge, suggesting that Minnesota should offload Cousins to New York, as the purple team’s season is now one Sunday away from irrelevance. The Vikings (0-2) host the Los Angeles Chargers (0-2) this weekend, and the loser will face mathematical hell in even thinking about reaching the postseason.
And aside from the usual media players like ESPN and Bleacher Report nibbling at Cousins-to-Jets, a former Viking stepped up to the plate on Sunday to claim Minnesota should indeed explore a Cousins trade to New York.
That man is Kyle Rudolph, and he played for the Vikings from 2011 to 2020.
Rudolph explained on Fox Sports Radio, “The Vikings have a really good shot at getting back to 2-2. So I don’t think the Vikings can look at this season and say, ‘Oh, it’s over, let’s give up, we’ll trade our quarterback.’ But it’s where are you going? What are you doing? What’s the plan? Kirk Cousins is a quarterback, where he’s in the last year of his contract. The Vikings haven’t extended him.”
Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah held off on adding more years onto Cousins’ deal this offseason, a tactic amid his competitive rebuild plan for the franchise.
“So, why haven’t you extended him? Does he want more money, or do you not want to keep him? So, to me, I just think there’s a lot to uncover here, and if I’m the Jets, it’s a phone call that you have to make, to at least find out. And if you’re the Vikings, I think it’s a phone call that you have to take,” Rudolph added.
Minnesota is unlikely to trade Cousins anywhere after two or three games of the regular season but might entertain the idea if its record was in the toilet around the NFL’s trade deadline in seven weeks.
For example, if the Vikings owned a 1-7 record [or so] near the end of October, sending Cousins to a new team might make sense, as the season would be utterly lost, and Minnesota could vie for a high-round quarterback in April’s draft. Until then, though, it’s safe to assume that the Vikings ownership, general manager, coaching staff, and players believe the season is salvageable.
Rudolph grabbed 453 receptions for 4,488 yards and 49 touchdowns, nominating him as one of the Vikings best draft picks of the decade. He also caught the pass that walked off the New Orleans Saints in the 2019 postseason.
The longtime Viking retired a few weeks ago and now works as a Big 10 analyst for Peacock and co-hosts the aforementioned show on Fox Sports.
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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