Remembering the insane rumor linking Lamar Jackson to the Vikings

Less than one year ago, the Minnesota Vikings were one of the teams rumored to wind up with current Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

As he prepares to appear in the first AFC Championship of his young career, it's crazy to think that less than a year ago, some people believed Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson had an actual chance to land with the Minnesota Vikings before the start of the 2023 season.

It's easy to forget, but last March, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler set the Vikings rumor mill on fire when he mentioned Minnesota as a wild-card team that could potentially acquire Jackson during the 2023 offseason.

Obviously, there was no deal made that resulted in Jackson leaving the Ravens and joining the Vikings, but with Baltimore now one game away from playing in the Super Bowl, it makes one wonder how the 2023 season would have turned out differently for Minnesota if they had the former first-round pick starting under center.

The Minnesota Vikings trading for Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson always a pipe dream

It turned out Fowler's declaration of the Vikings being a wild card to land Jackson last was just a rumor that only wound up providing Minnesota fans with just more false hope.

It would be nice to know where that rumor came from, but in the end, the Vikings stuck with Kirk Cousins as their starting quarterback for the 2023 season, and Jackson remained with Baltimore.

Fast forward to right now, and the former first-round pick is getting ready to lead the Ravens against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship on Sunday, while Cousins is already going on a pre-free agency media tour to let teams know he's worth signing in free agency later this year.

Jackson is currently on track to win the NFL MVP for the second time in his pro career, and he has a chance to add to the legacy of his young career this weekend against the Chiefs.

Meanwhile, Cousins has been busy eating "spicy" barbeque chicken wings and traveling to Antigua to try and speed up the healing process for a torn Achilles he suffered last October.

Imagine if Jackson actually wound up with Minnesota this past offseason, and he got the opportunity to play indoors for more than half of the 2023 season while also throwing to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson.

That would've been insane.

Keep on imagining though, because that's as close as Jackson is going to get to being in a Vikings uniform anytime in the near future.