How does the Carson Wentz trade impact the future of the Vikings?
By Adam Patrick
The chance of Kirk Cousins remaining the starting quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings next season increased even more on Thursday.
It’s been less than two months since the 2020 campaign came to an end for the Minnesota Vikings and most of the offseason discussions related to the team have centered around the future of Kirk Cousins.
Cousins has been included in numerous trade rumors during the last few weeks, but none of them have resulted in anything other than a few unknown Twitter accounts gaining some more followers.
The veteran quarterback is expected to remain the starter for the Vikings next season, and at this point, him getting traded this year would come as a complete shock.
How does the Carson Wentz trade affect Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings?
On Thursday, the Indianapolis Colts reportedly made a blockbuster deal to acquire quarterback Carson Wentz from the Philadelphia Eagles.
Due to their expected cap space and need for a new signal-caller, some felt the Colts were a team that could have attempted to trade for Cousins this year. But now, with Indianapolis acquiring Wentz, any interest they had in the Minnesota quarterback means nothing.
With the deal between the Colts and Eagles on Thursday, the San Francisco 49ers now seem to be the only team left that could possibly attempt to trade for Cousins this year.
However, the chances of anything happening with the 49ers are still significantly low since there have been no credible reports to come out and indicate that the Vikings are willing to listen to trade offers involving their starting quarterback this offseason.
Wentz getting dealt on Thursday might have revealed what Minnesota could potentially get for Cousins in a trade though.
To acquire their new quarterback from Philadelphia, the Colts parted ways with a 2021 third-round draft pick and a conditional 2022 second-round selection that could turn into a first if certain requirements are met.
This comes not too long after the Los Angeles Rams sent a pair of first-round draft picks and a third-round selection to the Detroit Lions to acquire quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Many would agree that Cousins and Stafford belong in the same quarterback tier when it comes to their playing abilities. Most would also agree that the Vikings signal-caller is currently better at his job than Wentz.
Based on this, Minnesota would probably be able to acquire at least one first-round draft pick in return for Cousins if they were willing to deal the veteran passer.
But as it was mentioned earlier, there have been no reports from credible NFL insiders about the Vikings having any interest in sending their current starting quarterback elsewhere this year.