Quarterback
I want to preface this by saying I’m not on the side of the Vikings getting rid of Kirk Cousins, even after last week’s game. The guy had an admirable season a year ago, playing behind a ramshackle offensive line, with basically no running game. He’s a talented quarterback and he is in the top half of his position in the NFL.
At this point though, Cousins hasn’t given Minnesota any reason to keep him beyond year three. His passing numbers were great a season ago, but his record in purple is basically .500 and that isn’t good enough.
Even if things turn around and Cousins leads the Vikings to a championship this year, Minnesota has nothing behind him for 2020.
Sean Mannion was signed to just a one-year deal and he could go the way of Trevor Siemian and look to get as much money as possible next offseason. Jake Browning is on the practice squad, but he didn’t prove to anyone that he’s the Vikings quarterback of the future.
In the 2020 NFL Draft, Minnesota could grab a young signal-caller in the early rounds that they can develop. They can let him be the backup behind Cousins in year one and if things don’t go well for the veteran in 2020, then he can be the heir apparent.
The Vikings haven’t had much luck at taking a quarterback in the first round in recent years. Teddy Bridgewater‘s career in purple came to a tragic end, and Christian Ponder‘s was just flat out a tragedy. So Minnesota general manager Rick Spielman could be gun shy about taking a quarterback early in 2020.
If there is a quarterback prospect who emerges as a second or third-round value, and he’s available when the Vikings are on the clock, they need to pull the trigger and start the grooming process.