5 options at QB if Vikings lose Kirk Cousins to injury in 2020
By Dustin Baker
What options would the Minnesota Vikings have if Kirk Cousins was hurt in 2020?
Back in 2016, the Minnesota Vikings lost their field-general on an August afternoon less than two weeks before the regular season began. Teddy Bridgewater encountered a horror film-themed ailment to his left knee.
The Vikings backup quarterback on the roster that year was Shaun Hill and he was evidently pegged as a one-game replacement only because the team immediately shopped for a better quarterback.
Minnesota found that, to some degree, at an exorbitant price with Sam Bradford. The Vikings shipped a first-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for the injury-riddled former No. 1 overall draft pick.
If a season-ending injury suddenly became the bedevilment of Kirk Cousins, it’s no guarantee that Minnesota would place unadulterated faith in current backup Sean Mannion.
The Vikings would likely give it a fair audition. But if the team was, for instance, holding a 6-2 win-loss record, there is a more-than-reasonable chance Minnesota general manager Rick Spielman would flirt with the open market to find a replacement.
This article operates under that assumption as a hypothetical premise only. Mannion could very well shock the NFL and be a Case Keenum redux. It’s certainly possible, but it’s not very probable.
With Cam Newton freshly signed by the New England Patriots, the free-agent quarterback market suddenly became less attractive.
Nevertheless, the following possible options are some of the most realistic paths the Vikings might explore if the stop-gap quarterback is not currently on the roster. These hypotheses are not bombastic or silly like “sign Andrew Luck.” They are rooted in pragmatic realism.
The options are ranked in order from average to above-average.