Vikings Rumors: The Kevin O’Connell Trade, Kirk Cousins’ Next Team, a Guniea Pig
There’s never a shortage of rumors in the Minnesota Vikings’ stratosphere, and such theories should intensify as the team inches closer to training camp and the preseason.
Each week, we package the week’s top Vikings rumors, and these are those from May 18th to May 23rd.
The team embarks on OTAs next week, but before that, let’s peek at the Vikings rumor mill for Saturday, May 24th.
Last week’s can be read here and here.
Rumor: The Chicago Bears were the team that wanted to trade for Kevin O’Connell when the bizarre and untimely reports surfaced in January.
A new book recently revealed that Caleb Williams wanted to be drafted by the Vikings. Remember those Kevin O’Connell trade rumors back in January?
Some have connected the dots.
BearGogglesOn.com’s Jordan Campbell did so last week. He noted, “The Chicago Bears likely wanted to complete an NFC North coup. It had to be known by Ryan Poles’ front office that Williams thought highly of O’Connell. After all, the Bears’ quarterback did say this about the Vikings’ head coach during the season.”
“With that in mind, it seems obvious that the Bears were one of the teams that called the Vikings about O’Connell’s availability this offseason. They might have even preferred O’Connell to Johnson.”
The Vikings extended O’Connell after the fake trade chatter, and that was that.
Campbell added, “The Bears turned over every stone before they were allowed by the NFL to hire Johnson, and had O’Connell actually been available, a trade would have been a worthwhile route considering the quarterback success the Vikings’ head coach has had. However, Johnson is quite the consolation prize.”
So, perhaps the team that generated the trade rumor mill was one of Minnesota’s very own rivals.
Rumor: Kirk Cousins could end up with a Vikings rival before too long: the New Orleans Saints.
Vikings fans still despise the Saints, and there’s a chance that New Orleans ends up with Cousins.
Per SI.com, Cousins could be a fit in New Orleans. Dominic Minchella opined, “The former Spartan hasn’t seen any movement, as some believe it’s easier for him to stay in Atlanta rather than uproot his family and move elsewhere. However, one opportunity had opened up that another NFL franchise could be calling the front office in Atlanta.”
“The New Orleans Saints’ veteran quarterback, Derek Carr, announced his retirement on Saturday from the National Football League. While the Saints did acquire several quarterbacks from the 2025 NFL Draft, it remains unknown if they will throw one of them into the deep end to start their NFL careers.”
The Saints, too, could just start rookie Tyler Shough and call it good.
Minchella added, “Cousins has the experience that the Saints could be intrigued by. But what they wouldn’t be intrigued by is the salary he is making. The Falcons signed Cousins to a four-year, $180 million deal with $100 million guaranteed. For 2025, according to Spotrac.com, Cousins is set to make a base of $27.5 million.”
“As it currently stands, Cousins will be playing football with the Atlanta Falcons come the fall, unless something interesting happens. The trade talks for Cousins have been going on all offseason long, as the Falcons benched the MSU product down the stretch of last season for rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Making too much money to be viewed as a backup to a rising quarterback, Cousins has asked about the likelihood of him packing his bags and playing elsewhere.”
Atlanta would eat around $40 million in dead cap if it traded Cousins this summer. It would also have to weigh donating Cousins to a primary rival.
Rumor: The Vikings are guinea pigs for back-to-back games in Dublin and London.
Minnesota will be a trial for the NFL. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio explained the stakes this week.
He wrote, “For the first time ever, an NFL team will play a pair of road games in two different European cities. It’s a sign of things to come. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Vikings’ Week 4 game against the Steelers in Dublin followed by their Week 5 game against the Browns in London is trial run for the expanded use of multiple teams that will play in multiple European cities in consecutive weeks.”
“As soon as next year, there could be two or three teams that swap two traditional road games for a pair of neutral-site games in London and/or Dublin and/or Germany and/or Spain and/or elsewhere in Europe. (Sign me up for Bruges.) In 2026, those teams would likely come from the AFC, which will have nine road games in the current 17-game eight/nine home/away rotation.”
Teams will watch the Vikings as a measuring stick in Weeks 4 and 5.
Florio added, “Eventually, look for four franchises to serve as the ‘road’ team in (math is hard) eight European games. It’s all part of the NFL’s current plan to expand the number of international games to 16 per year. Which will be the approach unless and until the NFL drops a franchise or two (or four) in Europe.”
Minnesota is the guinea pig.
You must be logged in to post a comment.