Kevin O'Connell Addresses Vikings' QB Decision: 'Still Working Through That'
An MRI confirmed what the Vikings knew right away: Kirk Cousins is out for the season with a torn Achilles. After winning three consecutive games to get back to .500, they now have to move forward without their leader.
Cousins will still be around. He'll still be involved. He just won't be able to keep playing, which he was doing at such a high level over the last month.
"He has every intention of still being a major, major part of our leadership, a part of the quarterback room, a part of our offense, a part of our plans, each week, schematically, like he has been, right there every step of the way," Kevin O'Connell said on Monday. "And quite honestly, I don't expect anything less from Kirk being the man and the leader that he is."
This is a brutal blow for Cousins, whose contract expires after this season. It's a brutal blow for the Vikings, who were just starting to really get rolling as a team, with Cousins leading the way. But as O'Connell said, they have no choice but to move forward and keep fighting.
"Nobody feels sorry for anybody in this league," he said.
As soon as Cousins went down, O'Connell and GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the rest of the Vikings' front office were suddenly faced with a decision. Do they feel comfortable moving forward with rookie Jaren Hall? Will this be Nick Mullens' job once he's healthy? Should they seriously look at trying to acquire someone who can continue the momentum this team built in October?
Discussions are ongoing on that front. Hall will almost certainly start next Sunday's game against the Falcons, but at the very least, the Vikings will presumably bring in a backup-caliber quarterback while Mullens is on IR (Sean Mannion, on the practice squad, is the only other healthy QB in the building right now).
"We're still working through that," O'Connell said. "We’ll continue Jaren’s process of getting him ready to go each and every week. If he ends up being the guy, I know every guy on our roster has confidence in (him), and we're still working through some things — what that may look like to potentially add another player here."
The most likely move, at least on paper, would be to add someone like Colt McCoy, a 37-year-old free agent who overlapped with O'Connell in Washington for three years and worked out for the Vikings earlier this month.
But there are all kinds of theoretical possibilities. The Vikings could sign a higher-profile free agent like Carson Wentz. They could try to swing a trade before Tuesday afternoon's deadline, whether that would be for a backup like Case Keenum or Jacoby Brisset or a big-name recent starter like Ryan Tannehill, Jameis Winston, or Kyler Murray. Heck, they could even try to lure someone out of retirement.
O'Connell alluded to the fact that agents and others in the league have been blowing up his phone to ask about the Vikings' QB opening since Cousins' injury.
"You wouldn’t believe some of the things on my cell phone I’ve received over here in less than 24 hours," he said.
The fascinating thing for the Vikings as they make this decision is how any player they might acquire would fit into the timeline of their "competitive rebuild." This is a franchise that's trying to build a sustainable contender in 2024 and beyond. At the same time, they currently have a 4-4 football team with a bunch of talented players who have no plans on giving up on this season.
"That dialogue, it’s what’s going to be best for our ability to win football games," O'Connell said. "But also knowing we’ve been living in a world where we want to be as competitive as possible right now, while also understanding what we’re building, hopefully, for the future at the same time."
In other words, would it be worth it to sacrifice future draft picks in a trade for a quarterback who could help right now? The Vikings will want to do whatever they can to win football games this year, but probably not at the expense of their future. Unless, that is, there's someone out there who could be a long-term answer at the position. Maybe the best course of action is to ride with Hall and see what you have there, knowing any struggles would at least have the silver lining of improving the team's draft positioning.
"I think there’s a lot of scenarios to that," O'Connell said when asked if it's realistic to bring in a new starter. "What are the resources? I think the conversations that lead you down that road help clearly define the answer based upon, is it a short-term only thing? Is it something that could be more long-term? Is it something that truly is an upgrade versus just the sheer dealing with the reality of a tough situation right now?"
"(It goes back to) my communication with Kwesi, his staff, our coaching staff and just the fact we’re all synced up and we understand that we signed up to live in this dual world that sometimes can feel like it’s competing against each other a little bit. And that’s where you've got to just continue to have dialogue, communicate and ultimately make the best decision, collectively. More often times than not, that’s worked out for us so far."
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