Drafting a quarterback should be in the Vikings’ plans this year

Kirk Cousins is obviously the team’s starter for next season, but selecting a quarterback in the 2019 NFL Draft is something the Minnesota Vikings should still be doing.

A big reason for why the Minnesota Vikings took the plunge last offseason and signed Kirk Cousins to a monster contract was so that they wouldn’t have to worry about finding a new starting quarterback for at least three years.

Just because the Vikings still have Cousins under center for another two seasons though, it doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be still planning for the future of the position as well.

On Sunday, Minnesota reportedly agreed to a one-year deal with quarterback Sean Mannion according to the Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson. With the Vikings, Mannion will be given the opportunity to compete with Kyle Sloter for the team’s backup job behind Cousins.

With this latest signing, Minnesota now has a total of three quarterbacks on their roster. The Vikings will likely add another signal-caller to the group before this year’s training camp and that other passer should come from the 2019 draft pool.

Typically, Minnesota’s fourth quarterback in the preseason has been an undrafted free agent. The last time the Vikings actually selected a signal-caller outside of the first round was way back in 2010.

Minnesota and general manager Rick Spielman should just go ahead and put an end to this streak during the 2019 draft by adding a young quarterback who has the chance to develop into a valuable asset for the team.

The Vikings have already been doing their homework on a couple of the 2019 passing prospects this offseason. Minnesota has met with a number of quarterbacks during the past few months including Mississippi State’s Nick Fitzgerald, Ole Miss’ Jordan Ta’amu, and West Virginia’s Will Grier.

Of the three, Grier will probably come off the board first and that is expected to happen as early as the third round. Now, that may be too high of a pick for the Vikings to use on a quarterback this year. But if Grier ends up slipping into the fourth round, Minnesota should seriously consider snatching up the young passer.

There’s no guarantee that Cousins will be around after his contract runs out in two seasons. So it would be a wise move for the Vikings to draft a quarterback this year who actually has the potential to be their starter in the near future.

And even if Cousins does end up re-signing in 2021, Minnesota can still go ahead and possibly use the signal-caller they added from this year’s draft as a trade asset.

Obviously, the hope is that Cousins will remain with the Vikings past his current contract. But if Minnesota has the chance to add a talented passer from the 2019 draft as an insurance policy, it certainly wouldn’t be one of the worst decisions they could make.