Now what? Vikings have little time to make huge QB decision
Kirk Cousins might be done for the season with the Vikings confirming that he's being evaluated for an Achilles injury. If Cousins is out, the Vikings face monumental decisions with the NFL trade deadline set to strike at 3 p.m. CT on Tuesday.
The easy answer is to give the quarterback start to rookie Jaren Hall next Sunday at Atlanta, and depending on how that goes they can either keep going with Hall or give Nick Mullens an opportunity. Mullens has at least one more week on injured reserve.
Head coach Kevin O'Connell said Mullens is "progressing" from a back injury and he will be "in the mix" when Vikings leaders get together to discuss the quarterback plan going forward.
If the Vikings feel that at 4-4 they can still go on a run and compete for a Super Bowl without Cousins, there are very few names that make any sense at all.
Matthew Stafford
Stafford makes a ton of sense because he won a Super Bowl in the McVay/O'Connell offense in 2021. But Stafford has cap hits of $49.5 million, $50 million and $49.5 million 2024 through 2026. There's no way the Vikings can afford that kind of contract for a 35-year-old quarterback when they still hope extend Justin Jefferson.
Tom Brady
Sports Illustrated's Hondo Carpenter reported on his Raiders podcast just the other day that Tom Brady wasn't planning to retire, but instead was believed to be on his way to quarterback the Las Vegas Raiders before something in his personal life halted the plan.
"There was no tampering, but the Raiders believed they were getting Tom Brady and had every reason to think that," Carpenter said. "I said [last season] you don’t get rid of a Derek Carr for a Jimmy Garoppolo and that was not the plan… then some things transpired in Tom Brady’s life that made him coming and quarterbacking the Raiders to not be an option. That was not the Raiders fault."
Brady, 46, makes great sense if he's willing to learn a new offense in short order, come out of retirement and go on a run with one of the best offensive lines in the NFL while throwing the ball to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson.
Ryan Tannehill
Tannehill may now be playing second fiddle to rookie Will Levis in Tennessee after Levis shined in his start while Tannehill recovers from an ankle injury. If healthy, Tannehill would provided a veteran voice in the huddle and he's only carrying a $9.2 million cap hit in 2024 and nothing beyond that, according to Over The Cap.
That said, he has two touchdowns and six interceptions in six games this season.
Kyler Murray
Murray was a full participant in practice this past week for the first time since tearing his ACL in the 11th game of the 2022 season. But Murray in 2024 will be entering his first year of a five-year, $230.5 million contract that runs thorugh his age-31 season in 2028. Can the Vikings make that contract work?
Murray's return date is reportedly Week 10. Can Minnesota and Arizona figure out a way to make the money work? Murray is a game-changing talent who comes with concerns over his study habits, but there's no question about his ability as a playmaking quarterback.
But what's the price for Murray? Is it a first-round pick and that's it?
If you're the Vikings, would you rather own your current 2024 first-round pick and hope to land an elite QB in the draft or would you prefer to trade that pick for a shot to make Murray your franchise QB?
Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco
The Jets wanted nothing to do with either quarterback. It doesn't make any sense for the Vikings to go with Ryan or Flacco, who are more statue-like in the pocket than Cousins ever has been.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.