Why the Vikings (probably) won’t trade for Browns QB Baker Mayfield

Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield has reportedly requested a trade and there are some who think the Minnesota Vikings should acquire him for Kirk Cousins.

Before the Minnesota Vikings and Kirk Cousins agreed to a contract extension last week, there were some who thought the veteran quarterback was going to be traded. If the Vikings were going to trade Cousins, the Cleveland Browns seemed like a logical destination with the two teams sharing some obvious connections (Kevin Stefanski and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah most notably), and Minnesota could have potentially agreed to take Baker Mayfield as part of a deal.

But a trade with the Browns involving Mayfield never happened as the Vikings decided to give Cousins a one-year extension instead.

On Thursday, Mayfield reportedly requested trade from Cleveland (something the Browns have said they won’t honor), and some have been wondering if a deal between Cleveland and Minnesota could be back on the table. The simple answer to that question is no.

Why the Minnesota Vikings making a trade for Cleveland Browns QB Baker Mayfield is unrealistic

Once Cousins put the ink on the paper to sign his extension, the chance of the Vikings trading him went as close to zero percent as possible.

Cousins‘ new deal has a no-trade clause in it, so he would have to approve of the deal before Minnesota could accept. Him moving on from the Vikings after the team just hired a head coach he likes and campaigned for in Kevin O’Connell seems very unlikely.

Minnesota could potentially get creative and attempt to trade the veteran quarterback this summer if they land a top passing prospect in this year’s NFL Draft.

If the Vikings make a deal involving Cousins after June 1, then it would clear $15 million in cap space. Much better than the more than $3 million that would be added to their salary cap if they traded the quarterback before June 1 of this year.

Still, in order for any sort of trade to happen that involves Cousins until 2024, the Minnesota quarterback would have to approve it. And right now, the chances of that happening seem extremely low.