Questions Answered: Sneaky Round 1 Draft Need for Vikings, Kirk Cousins’ Next Team, Najee Harris
The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by VikingsTerritory. Today is the January 29th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].
Questions Answered: Sneaky Round 1 Draft Need, Kirk Cousins’ Next Team, Najee Harris
Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.
Q: Could you see the Vikings drafting a safety in Round 1 if Harrison Smith retires and Camryn Bynum leaves in free agency?
Answer: Yes, that’s possible, but we’d rather they focus on cornerback or defensive tackle.
It’s probably more likely that a) Bynum returns with the Vikings before hitting the open market b) Minnesota signs Jevon Holland from the Miami Dolphins — before letting the safety roster need fall to the draft.
Safety is much easier to figure out than cornerback or defensive tackle among all positions on an NFL roster. That is — decent safeties can be found in free agency; good free-agent corners are scarce.
But if general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah absolutely has to draft a safety (again) in Round 1, it will be because Malaki Starks fell down the board or the team reached for South Carolina’s Nick Emmanwori.
Q: Where will Kirk Cousins play next season?
Answer: Our money is on the Cleveland Browns.
Cousins’ next team can sign him to a dinker contract — has anybody ever typed that? — this offseason because he’s still receiving guaranteed money from the Atlanta Falcons. Think: Russell Wilson’s free agency in 2024.
Kevin Stefanski crossed paths with Cousins in 2019, and the Browns are in salary cap hell because of Deshaun Watson. An affordable Cousins in Cleveland just makes too much sense.
Q: Should Minnesota sign Najee Harris as the RB1 fix in free agency?
Answer: That could work, yes.
For now, the purple team will enter the offseason with two running backs attached to the budget in 2025: Ty Chandler and Zavier Scott. Those men may not even make the active roster late in August, so fundamental RB change is around the bend.
Harris can work at RB1 if Adofo-Mensah doesn’t re-sign Aaron Jones, but we also hope that Minnesota drafts a rookie, too, almost no matter what. This 2025 RB draft class is unbelievably deep. The Vikings have to partake.
Signing Harris would be fine, but a youth injection is required as well.
One of the Ohio State running backs — TreVeyon Henderson or Quinshon Judkins — would do the trick.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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