Well, Davante Adams Is Fond of a Certain Viking.
Dustin Baker
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Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams could be on the move this offseason, often mentioned in the NFL’s trade rumor mill. Credible reporting suggests the New York Jets attempted to acquire Adams before the trade deadline three months ago.
Meanwhile, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is set to become a free agent in seven weeks if the purple team doesn’t extend his contract.
Well, Davante Adams Is Fond of a Certain Viking.
And wouldn’t you know it? Adams is fond of Cousins, referencing the 35-year-old — all on his own — recently on the Two Gs in a Pod podcast. Among a handful of topics, including the full-time hire of Raiders skipper Antonio Pierce, Adams was open about a quarterback he’d like to team up with, and Cousins made the cut.
“I like Kirk Cousins. I think Kirk Cousins is a really good quarterback. As far as availability, I think Kirk’s a good player,” Adams replied.
Adams has seen a lot of Cousins through the years — he’s played against the Vikings 16 times in his career — after the Vikings added the veteran signal-caller in free agency six years ago. The Packers employed Adams for eight seasons from 2014 to 2021, so the Adams-Packers and Cousins-Vikings eras overlapped from 2018 to 2021.
Of course, it’s a longshot for the men to unite on an NFL team. The best path might be for Cousins to hit free agency, where Las Vegas could sign him outright in March. That plan, though, feels unlikely because the Raiders would hop, skip, and jump from Derek Carr to Jimmy Garoppolo to Kirk Cousins in back-to-back-to-back seasons, which doesn’t feel like change-oriented team-building.
Otherwise, if Adams were traded to the New England Patriots or Pittsburgh Steelers, for example, Cousins and he could team up at one of those destinations, assuming Cousins hits the open market and, alas, leaves the Vikings for good.
Cousins tore his Achilles tendon on October 29th at Lambeau Field in a win over the Green Bay Packers, ending his season while the Vikings finished the season 3-6 without the QB1. He was on pace for 5,000 passing yards, 38 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions before the injury, also known as MVP-caliber numbers. His offseason status is more up in the air than ever in 2024. Minnesota could let him walk and draft a rookie quarterback, extend him and not draft a quarterback, or re-up with Cousins and draft a rookie passer.
In an interview with CBS Sports last week, Cousins said about his injury recovery, “My expectation is that I’ll be able to practice during OTAs as normal. But the question will be, is it worth it? And so you have to weigh that a little bit. But my goal would be that I’m saying I can go, and you guys are going to have to stop me because I feel that good.”
Adams ranks 44th all-time in receiving yards with 10,781. The Vikings, without Cousins, defeated Adams’ Raiders last month by a score of 3-0. It was Minnesota’s final win of 2023.
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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