Trade rumors amped up on Monday when SKOR North’s Judd Zulgad reported that the Carolina Panthers had contacted the Minnesota Vikings regarding Kirk Cousins. It doesn’t appear the call went anywhere because Vikings brass doesn’t seem to want to move on from Cousins. However, it brings more speculation about the polarizing quarterback. Cousins’ $45 million cap hit is looming.
Do new head coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensi want to build a roster around that cap number? Or would trading Cousins away, clearing cap space, and replacing him with a cheaper bridge quarterback yield better results? Doing so would help build a roster for the potential quarterback of the future, right?
When looking back at the Super Bowl representatives over the last 15 seasons, we find that teams generally don’t seek bridge quarterbacks. Eli Manning finally got the New York Giants to the Super Bowl in his fourth season in 2007. But Eli rode the bench as a rookie despite being the first-overall pick. Kurt Warner was in front of him and went 5-4 as a starter in Manning’s rookie season. Manning broke into the starting lineup in 2004, though, starting the final seven games.
However, Warner was already on the roster when Manning arrived. After his run with the St. Louis Rams, Warner signed with the Giants in 2003. New York released Kerry Collins following the 2004 NFL Draft when they traded for Manning. Collins knew that Manning would eventually take the job, so shortly after the draft, he and the Giants mutually parted ways. Warner was merely holding Manning’s spot until the team was ready to insert him into the lineup.
That seems to be the most common theme for many Super Bowl representatives. Ben Roethlisberger, another member of the 2004 draft class, began the 2004 season on the bench. But he took over for Tommy Maddox, who had been the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starter the previous two seasons, after Maddox got injured in Week 2. Similarly, the San Francisco 49ers advanced to Super Bowl XLVII when they replaced Alex Smith with Colin Kaepernick. Smith was again replaced in Kansas City by Patrick Mahomes following the 2017 season.
But not every team has needed a bridge to their eventual franchise quarterback. The Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks drafted Day 1 starters in Cam Newton and Russell Wilson. However, the 2019 Cincinnati Bengals found themselves in a somewhat similar situation to the 2022 Vikings. In 2019, Andy Dalton only took up 8.26% of Cincinnati’s salary cap. Cousins is currently slated at 21.43% in 2022, although an extension could reduce that number. Either way, Dalton was still the highest-paid player on the 2019 Bengals. Not only that, but Dalton was 32 and on the back nine of his career. Furthermore, he had been Cincinnati’s starter since 2011, and they had missed the playoffs in three-straight seasons.
The Bengals hired Zach Taylor in 2019, and they could have immediately tried to draft their franchise quarterback. With the 11th-overall pick, they could have drafted Dwayne Haskins. Cincinnati took tackle Jonah Williams instead and went 2-14. A year later, they selected Joe Burrow No. 1 overall.
Unfortunately, the Cincinnati example doesn’t work for the Vikings. Minnesota has a flawed roster, but many things would have to go wrong for them to wind up with the first pick in the draft – with or without Cousins.
So which team created the best blueprint for the Vikings? Ironically, the 2016 Philadelphia Eagles.
Philadelphia had traded Nick Foles to the Rams in exchange for Sam Bradford before the 2015 season. Bradford tossed 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 14 games, throwing for 3,725 yards total. But the Eagles fired Chip Kelly after the season, and they hired former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson to be their head coach in 2016.
With Pederson at the helm, the Eagles traded the eightth pick (among other picks, including their 2017 first-rounder) to the Cleveland Browns for the second-overall pick in the 2016 draft and selected Carson Wentz. The former NDSU quarterback was expected to sit on the bench for at least a year. “Sam Bradford is our starting quarterback,” Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman said after the draft.
As we know, the Eagles ended up trading Bradford to the Vikings before the final preseason game in 2016. Philadelphia received Minnesota’s 2017 first- and fourth-round picks, and Wentz started on opening day. Wentz produced similar numbers to what Bradford had a year before. He learned from his rookie mistakes and had an MVP-caliber season in 2017 before he tore his ACL. Bradford had helped position the Eagles to secure home-field advantage in the playoffs, though, and they went on to win the Super Bowl.
By all accounts, it appeared as if the Eagles were committed to Bradford, at least for the 2016 season. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t have kept him on their roster through the final week of August 2016. The Eagles were coming off of two consecutive second-place finishes in the NFC East, and the Bradford trade signaled that they were willing to sacrifice a little bit for the immediate future. They would finish 7-9 in 2016, missing the playoffs for a third consecutive season.
Philadelphia’s scenario in 2016 feels eerily similar to the Vikings’ current situation with Cousins. The front office appears set with him moving forward for 2022. Minnesota has missed the playoffs for the last two seasons. And although O’Connell and Co. are in their first year, the Wilfs would love to return to the playoffs in 2022. Cousins would give them their best chance at immediate success.
But how deep into the playoffs can the Vikings go with Cousins eating up over one-fifth of the salary cap in 2022? Not only are there depth issues throughout the roster, but it’s uncertain who Minnesota will start at cornerback and defensive end. Anything can happen in a league full of parity. But would banking on everything going right in 2022 be the best plan for success in 2023 and beyond? The Wilfs may look at the 2019 Vikings squad as a precautionary tale.
The Vikings may very well have all the intentions in the world to move forward with Cousins in 2022. But as we’ve already heard, teams are already calling about the quarterback. Desperate general managers will swing desperate trades. The 2016 Vikings panicked when Teddy Bridgewater suffered a freak injury and overpaid for Bradford. With quarterback movement already sure to happen in 2022, don’t be surprised if the Vikings go the way of the 2016 Eagles. They might genuinely believe that Cousins is their guy. That is until someone makes them an offer that they can’t refuse.
