Former NFL Pair of Brothers Has Weird Advice for Vikings
Dustin Baker
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First, the recommendation was to offload Justin Jefferson. Now, it’s to avoid re-signing Kirk Cousins.
Former NFLer Chris Long and his brother Kyle have voiced strong Minnesota Vikings-themed opinions lately, and the latest involved the QB1, who is scheduled to hit free agency in March.
Former NFL Pair of Brothers Has Weird Advice for Vikings
Chris Long said on the Green Light with Chris Long podcast this week, “I want to see a shake-up. I want to see Kirk somewhere else. I want to see [Kevin O’Connell] with somebody else. I want to see them turn the page and start planning for the future.”
As standalone advice, Long’s instructions to the Vikings aren’t that odd. It’s truly a coinflip on whether Cousins returns to Minnesota for Year No. 7. Yet, when partnered with his brother’s wisdom, well, Minnesota would basically start from scratch. Kyle Long proclaimed that the Vikings should trade Justin Jefferson because they have “Braylon Addison” on the roster.
Presumably referring to Jordan Addison, former Pro Bowl offensive lineman Kyle Long stated his case this week on CBS Sports airwaves two weeks ago in a since-deleted tweet. The Vikings drafted Addison in Round 1 of last year’s draft, and the newcomer took Minnesota’s offense by storm — so much so that he earned placement in ESPN’s Top 10 Rookie list.
“The Minnesota Vikings, you need to trade Justin Jefferson. Because you’ve got the best receiver in football, but you didn’t win a Super Bowl. Kirk Cousins had an awesome year, but you’ve got other weapons in Braylon Addison, a number of receivers, you’ve got a great tight end there, you’ve got a coordinator, a great offensive mind at head coach,” Long spitballed.
Jefferson and the Vikings front office have expressed enthusiasm about reaching a contract extension for the last 12 months.
Long added, “Go get rid of Justin Jefferson. Get a ton of other great players.”
Ironically, Long’s theory wasn’t exclusive. The Pioneer Press published a similar theory earlier this month, claiming Minnesota should — you guessed it — trade Jefferson to stockpile draft assets for the future. “There could be a better chance of Jefferson, 24, getting traded than anybody’s saying. That’s because it doesn’t make sense to pay the NFL’s best receiver the money he wants (expected to be at least $150 million over five years) on a team that’s not expected to be seriously competitive for several more years,” Pioneer Press’ Charley Walters opined.
The same Walters also wrote last weekend that Cousins wants a larger contract than most believed. Walters wrote about Cousins’ upcoming free agency, “The buzz now is that it will take $90 million guaranteed for two years, despite that he’s still not yet fully recovered from Achilles surgery in November, to sign free agent QB Kirk Cousins. If that’s the case, he certainly won’t get that from the Vikings.”
The NFL offseason is always stuffed to the gills with folks’ theories, so if you’re keeping track at home, opting not to re-sign Cousins is a popular sentiment. And a fringe theory is trading Jefferson for several assets.
The two theories just so happen to be held by former NFLer brothers. It’s a choose-your-fighter deal.
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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