Did Vikings plant a seed in Patriots' ear over the No. 3 draft pick?

Kirk Cousins speculation ramping up ahead of next week's NFL Combine

If Kirk Cousins wants three years of fully guaranteed money in his next contract, he might not be getting that type of commitment from the Minnesota Vikings – and could his potential exit be why the Vikings might be sniffing around for a potential move up in the NFL Draft?

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer recently reported that Minnesota's front office likes Cousins but won't give him a fully guaranteed deal, and during his weekly appearance on SKOR North's Minnesota Sports with Mackey & Judd, Minnesota sports insider Darren Wolfson of KSTP shared his information on the issue.

"I continue to believe the Vikings are not guaranteeing anything in 2026, so if that's the sticking point, Kirk Cousins is landing elsewhere," Wolfson said. "Would the Vikings go two fully guaranteed or do the Vikings want some outs in 2025 if they want to cut the cord after 2024? But yeah, no way the Vikings are guaranteeing three years. I wouldn't be shocked if one team did it, but it's not going to be the Vikings." 

Kirk Cousins in the shadows at Soldier Field / Photo credit: Andy Kenutis, Minnesota Vikings

Former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman agrees that Cousins won't get three years guaranteed from Minnesota. 

"I don't know if he will get that fully guaranteed contract," Spielman said Thursday on SiriusXM NFL Radio. "He may want that but you got a 36-year-old quarterback coming off an achilles, that if Minnesota is not going to do that, which I don't believe they will do that, that they will go ahead and let him get to the open market to see if anyone will give him a two- or three-year fully guaranteed contract."

That's interesting enough, but then Wolfson snuck it something far more intriguing, even going as far as telling us at Bring Me The Sports not to aggregate the info (sorry Doogie), only to receive pushback from Judd Zulgad because of how dynamic the info was. So here we are, reporting what he said... 

“Down in Mobile there was a seed planted with New England by the Vikings," Wolfson said, citing a "little birdie" in his ear. "I’m not suggesting talks have advanced. It was one of those, ‘Hey, we’ll circle back to you,’ presumably next week at the Combine in Indianapolis. But that some sort of seed was planted in terms of, ‘Hey, is there even any interest on your front to move off that No. 3 pick?’"

You can watch the segment from around 7:30 onwards:

SKOR North made sure to caveat that information as being part of the show's inimitable "reckless speculation" segment, but if it's true, it could indicate that Minnesota is hunting hard for a quarterback.

Moving to No. 3 would likely give the Vikings the choice of top QB prospects Jayden Daniels and JJ McCarthy, and who knows, even Drake Maye potentially could fall as far as No. 3 if one of the Chicago Bears or Washington Commanders don't take a quarterback, assuming Caleb Williams goes in the top two picks. 

But it would also cost the Vikings a heck of a lot of draft capital to trade up from the 11th Pick. 

Whether they're in a position to draft a QB they desire will depend on about a billion moving parts between now and April 25. 

Matthew Coller: Vikings head to Combine with everything at stake