Vikings Drum Bangs Louder for Dream QB
Back in January, when the Minnesota Vikings 2023 season flamed out, fans couldn’t get a drop on the team’s long-term quarterback plan.
Vikings Drum Bangs Louder for Dream QB
Many believed the club would re-up with Kirk Cousins for a seventh season: Cousins personally wanted a reunion, and Minnesota’s brass was open to the idea at its desired pricepoint. Meanwhile, North Carolina quarterback and rookie-to-be Drake Maye situated himself as the second passer to go off the board in April’s draft.
Then, March arrived, and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah opted not to bow to Cousins’ financial demands. The 35-year-old secured a four-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons for $180 million, ending his tenure in the Twin Cities and sending Vikings faithful to the replacement drawing board.
Two days later, March 15th, Adofo-Mensah executed a surprise pre-draft trade, grabbing an additional 1st-Round pick from the Houston Texans while offloading two 2nd-Rounders in the deal, plus a late-round pick swap. All eyes fixated on a would-be next trade that would probably plop Minnesota in the draft’s Top 5 for a quarterback of the future. Along the way, Maye’s draft stock fell to the third quarterback on the board, behind Caleb Williams (USC) and Jayden Daniels (LSU).
It became evident that Minnesota could feasibly draft Maye, which felt like a daydream when the offseason began. This week, Forbes upped the ante. Steve Silverman wrote about the purple team’s draft plans, “The Vikings appear to be focusing on Maye at this point. New quarterbacks coach Josh McCown has a long history with Maye, as he provided advice after watching Maye’s game film as a schoolboy quarterback at Myers Park (North Carolina) High School.”
And on Friday, all mock drafts shifted from J.J. McCarthy, Michigan’s quarterback, as the Vikings’ predictive selection to Maye — like across the board. The drum has banged louder for Maye as a Viking in the last 72 hours.
“McCown was signed as a backup quarterback for the Eagles in 2019 after Philadelphia was hit with a number of QB injuries. McCown would install the Myers Park offensive game plan on Mondays before flying back to Philadelphia to prepare for his job with the Eagles. The Maye-McCown partnership worked incredibly well as the quarterback had a 50-2 touchdown to interception ratio that season,” Silverman added.
Maye is prototypically sized at 6’4″ and 230 pounds and isn’t afraid to get out of the pocket and move. At heart, he’s a pocket passer who can “do both” in terms of slinging the rock and getting mobile when necessary. After an era involving fan-driven division regarding Cousins—folks almost had to choose between “pro-Cousins” or “anti-Cousins”— Maye would unite both camps, at least in theory.
Silverman concluded, “The long-standing relationship between the two men does not assure the Vikings will trade up and draft Maye, but it represents a strong possibility. There are no guarantees at this point, but it appears the Vikings have a strong connection to Maye and they will try to make a deal that will give them the option of selecting their quarterback of the future.”
Maye to Minnesota is a new reality that actually feels achievable. It didn’t feel that way two or three months ago. The drum bangs louder.
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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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