USA Today proposes awful Vikings-Jets trade involving Kirk Cousins for Zach Wilson

C'mon, man!

Are Midwesterners nothing but schmucks in the eyes of East Coast media? 

Kirk Cousins for Zach Wilson and two third-round picks? That's the trade idea proposed by USA Today's Nate Davis, with the veteran writer trying to argue sense into the idea that at face value looks like a last resort kind of deal for the Vikings. 

Davis writes: "So why not send Wilson, 24, and, say, two third-round picks – the Jets spent next year’s second-rounder on Rodgers – to the Vikings for Cousins, 35, who’s scheduled to be a free agent at season’s end?"

Cousins to the Jets is Taylor Swift to the Swifties. Wilson to the Vikings is Urkel to the Winslows. The two third-round picks are nice but you'd certainly demand more knowing that the Jets view Cousins as a savior. 

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah might've bombed his first NFL Draft test in 2022, but this is a Harvard educated man we're talking about. He's not going to give up his quarterback for a bust and two picks unless it's the only offer on the table. He damn well knows the Jets still have their 2023 first-round pick because Aaron Rodgers got injured, and that's the starting point of any conversation.

You know what the Patriots got for Jimmy Garoppolo in a 2017 midseason trade? A second-round pick. Yep, the 49ers sent Belichick a second-round pick for a guy with two career starts. Wilson and a pair thirds isn't nearly enough for the quarterback who leads the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns through three weeks. 

Davis's justification for the proposal can basically be summed up as:

• The Vikings didn't extend Cousins and they can't franchise tag him in 2024.
• They've already moved on from veteran contracts like Dalvin Cook, Eric Kendricks and Adam Thielen, they still have to pay Justin Jefferson, and the season is "effectively over" (it's not).
• The third-round picks are better than losing Cousins for nothing, maybe Kevin O'Connell can revive Wilson (lol) and it turns into a "long-term win for the Vikings."
• If it fails they're probably picking super high in next year's loaded QB class.

If the Oct. 31 trade deadline nears and the Vikings are dead in the water, the Jets still have a chance and there are no other offers on the table, Wilson plus two thirds (or just the picks) would make more sense. But right now there's not a trade call the Vikings should consider taking unless it starts with a first-round pick.