Kirk Cousins to Jets Noise Grows Louder
The Minnesota Vikings dropped to a 0-2 record after Thursday Night Football when the purple team lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, 34-28.
Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins delivered 364 passing yards and 4 touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough to combat the team’s 4 lost fumbles.
Kirk Cousins to Jets Noise Grows Louder
Accordingly, because Minnesota is immersed in a “competitive rebuild” and the New York Jets might need a QB1 if Zach Wilson doesn’t thrive in Aaron Rodgers’ season-long absence, Kirk Cousins trade theories to the Jets ramped up Thursday night and Friday morning.
Cousins has a full no-trade clause in his contract, and the Vikings are severely unlikely to quit on the 2023 season. Still, that doesn’t stop the NFL masses from calling for the exchange.
ESPN’s Get Up showpage tweeted Friday morning, “Kirk Cousins to the Jets! Who says no? Mike Greenberg is ‘all in’ for New York to make the trade for the QB.”
Football Guys’ Jeff Bell tweeted late Thursday night, “The Jets need to be on the phone for Kirk Cousins right now.”
Cousins became the first quarterback in Vikings history to throw for 700+ passing yards and 6+ passing touchdowns in the first two games of a season. And he’s the 11th quarterback in NFL history to achieve the mark, with only Drew Bledsoe (1994) and Matt Ryan (2020), plus Cousins, accompanied by 0-2 team records.
CBS Sports Cody Benjamin wrote about a hypothetical Cousins-to-Jets deal after Thursday Night Football, “Cousins could soon make legitimate sense as a Jets trade target, if he doesn’t already. If you’re skeptical, you might be thinking one of the following things: But the Vikings aren’t out of it after just two games! But the Jets are already paying big money for Rodgers! But Cousins has a no-trade clause! But the Jets said Zach Wilson is their guy!”
The Jets have named Wilson as the undisputed starter in New York going forward in 2023.
Benjamin continued, “No, the Vikings aren’t out of it. But this is a team whose general manager, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, said back in March that 2023 would be a ‘competitive rebuild.’ History suggests an 0-2 start is deadly; between 2007-2021, only 12 of 125 teams to lose their first two ended up in the playoffs. Minnesota spent much of its offseason shipping out win-now pieces like Dalvin Cook and Eric Kendricks. It reportedly considered a trade for ex-49ers QB Trey Lance at the combine.”
The Vikings have reached the postseason after starting 0-2 in a season just once, the 2008 campaign.
“Why on Earth wouldn’t they entertain selling high on Cousins in the QB’s own contract year, before he has the chance to cash in and return less via compensatory picks? It’s not like his current offensive line is necessarily strong enough to keep him upright in the Twin Cities anyway. Imagine the potential long-term payoff for Adofo-Mensah if he got at least one premium pick in a deal, potentially packaging multiple picks in 2024 for the kind of draft-day QB swing they’ve been unable to take for years,” Benjamin opined.
While fans might believe the Vikings are in the business of tanking, a Cousins trade to New York probably won’t come to fruition. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah explained his opinion on “tanking” to reporters at the 2023 NFL Combine, “People always talk about, ‘Just tank,’ and in this sport, I think it’s kind of unconscionable to do it for what these players put on the line for our sport.”
The Vikings have nine days to prepare for the Los Angeles Chargers at U.S. Bank Stadium in Week 3. The Jets play the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, a squad that beat the other New York team 40-0 five days ago.
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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