Vikings

New Vikings WR Kendall Wright Has Played With a Lot of Quarterbacks

Photo Credit: Brian Curski

When Kendall Wright set out for free agency, he was looking for some continuity.

The Minnesota Vikings suddenly-solidified quarterback situation with Kirk Cousins at the helm was enough to coax him to become the Vikings’ likely new slot receiver.

“I think it’s a very, very smart football team and a smart offense,” said Wright of the Vikings on a conference call Monday morning, “because it’s a team that doesn’t really make many mistakes and doesn’t really have any turnovers that kill the game. That’s a big reason why I want to come out there.”

Wright’s previous stop with the Chicago Bears resulted in a mid-season quarterback switch as veteran Mike Glennon ceded to rookie Mitch Trubisky, who underwent plenty of growing pains in his first season.

Par for the course for Wright, who dealt with an eclectic mix of quarterbacks in Tennessee in the five seasons prior.

During his first three seasons, the Titans were still trying to unlock the potential of former first-round draft pick Jake Locker, but numerous injuries to Locker led to cameos from veteran backups Matt Hasselbeck, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Charlie Whitehurst. Zach Mettenberger also made 10 starts between 2014-15, losing all 10.

The Titans drafted franchise quarterback Marcus Mariota in 2015, but a pair of late-season injuries over the next two seasons led to mop-up jobs from Mettenberger and Matt Cassel, respectively.

Toss in short appearances by Rusty Smith (2012), Jordan Palmer (2013) and Alex Tanney (2015) and you’ve got 12 quarterbacks that Wright has played with since his rookie season. Their collective touchdown-to-interception ratio stands at a pedestrian 126 touchdowns against 88 interceptions.

“Just looking around throughout the league, I think people see what having a good quarterback can do for not only a football team but for your receivers,” said Wright.

The 28-year-old also visited with the Kansas City Chiefs, but they traded established quarterback Alex Smith before free agency to ostensibly turn toward promising but inexperienced second-year passer Patrick Mahomes.

In Minnesota, Wright knows what he’s getting from Cousins, who enters the first of a three-year guaranteed contract worth $84 million. He’s thrown for over 4,000 yards three consecutive years.

“I’ve played with countless quarterbacks in my career, and I’ve never played with one of Kirk Cousins’ caliber,” said Wright. “I’ve never played with a quarterback who threw for 4,000 yards.”

The Vikings have been snakebit at quarterback with eight different passers appearing in games since 2013, not to mention five new Week 1 starters in that span.

Minnesota believes Cousins is the quarterback to change that narrative. Now the Vikings are equipping him with a filled-out receiving corps.

After releasing Jarius Wright in a cost-cutting maneuver, there was question as to who would be on the field with top wideouts Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen in three-wide receiver sets.

Wright believes he can be the one to complete the trifecta of pass catchers.

“We have Thielen and Diggs,” said Wright. “I couldn’t really tell who’s the number one and who’s the number two. You’ve got those two guys out there. You’ve got teams that want to play man coverage or move cornerbacks around, and I don’t think that they’ll be able to do that or will want to do that.”


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