Vikings fans, we need to have a talk about Deshaun Watson
By Adam Patrick
Some of this speculation about Deshaun Watson landing with the Minnesota Vikings is getting out of hand.
When the Minnesota Vikings signed Kirk Cousins in 2018, they brought him in to help them win a championship. The keyword in this is “help,” as Cousins is not, and never has been, a quarterback that can put an entire franchise on his back.
What the veteran quarterback has done during his tenure with the Vikings is exactly what the team thought he was capable of when they signed him.
Cousins has put up impressive numbers, made a bunch of clutch throws, and taken the blame when Minnesota’s defense, special teams, or offensive line have failed to do their jobs.
Deshaun Watson landing with the Minnesota Vikings is not realistic
Despite Cousins playing some of the best football the Vikings have seen from a starting quarterback in their history of existence, fans would still like the team to figure out a way to trade for Houston Texans signal-caller Deshaun Watson.
For some reason, people believe that heading into a season where the jobs of Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman are expected to be on the line, the team should give up whatever is necessary to acquire Watson, even if it prevents their new quarterback from being successful in the future.
The trade chatter involving the Texans quarterback to the Vikings seemed to die down a bit recently, and then ProFootballTalk’s Peter King wound everything back up again on Monday when he threw out the idea of a three-team trade that resulted in Watson landing in Minnesota.
In King’s scenario, the Vikings would part ways with Cousins, Anthony Barr, Alexander Mattison, two first-round picks (2021 and 2023), and two second-round picks (2022 and 2023). In return, Minnesota would get Watson, and that’s it.
While a package like this is probably similar to what it will actually take to acquire the Houston quarterback, it’s highly unlikely to be something that the Vikings would even offer.
First, did we not just see how terrible Minnesota’s defense was in 2020 without Barr on the field? Some might not think that his absence had much to do with their lack of success, but it did.
Do we honestly think that Zimmer will give up Barr, roll with Eric Wilson for another year, and just hope that his defense doesn’t have another awful performance that results in his firing? Sorry, but this isn’t even close to believable.
Then let’s talk about the draft picks the Vikings would give up in King’s proposed trade idea. In a year where the Vikings are not expected to have a ton of cap space, even with money cleared from the players given up in this magical deal, Spielman is going to give up four future early-round draft selections that could potentially have a bigger impact on the team than Watson?
The guy who ended up with 15 draft picks a year ago is going to trade away four early-round selections over the next three years? No, absolutely not.
While these trade scenarios can be fun to talk about, and obviously, Watson would be an upgrade over Cousins under center for Minnesota, the chances of anything actually coming to fruition are about the same as any trade ideas that involve the Vikings acquiring Patrick Mahomes from the Kansas City Chiefs.
Some might say, “well, no one thought Minnesota was going to trade Stefon Diggs last year, and look how that turned out.” But actually, there were plenty of people with sources close to the Vikings that did believe Diggs was close to being on his way out before his final season with the team even began.
There has been absolutely nothing credible that has come out regarding Minnesota putting Cousins on the trade block, looking to move on from him before the start of next season, or being willing to do whatever it takes to acquire Watson.
While I would love to eat my words and see Watson become the Vikings’ new starting quarterback, it’s just incredibly difficult to believe that it will happen given the behaviors Minnesota has displayed in the past with their draft picks, fixing the defense being a top priority this year, and the fact that Zimmer and Spielman really can’t afford to take such a large risk as they head into a make-or-break season with the franchise.
I’ll leave you with this though. For as shocking as it would be to find out that the Vikings actually acquired Watson in a trade this year, it also wouldn’t be shocking if Spielman was able to work out a deal that didn’t involve them throwing a bunch of their future assets down the drain.