The ship of the Minnesota Vikings has taken a few cannonballs to the stern, leaving them with a 1-4 record. Oh, and they just put Justin Jefferson on IR. Their season is already all but wasted, and they are sinking quickly.
This leaves the question that has been pondered for weeks- will the Vikings trade the man in their captain’s quarters, Kirk Cousins? If they were to make such a move, these five teams are the ones to watch the closest.
New York Jets
Let’s address the jet-shaped elephant in the room to start off. Yes, this is still very much on the board. God love Zach Wilson, but he’s not playing well. He’s still last in the NFL in EPA/play and adjusted EPA/play, and the Jets are far too reliant on their defense. Bringing in Cousins would put them in the wildcard hunt, at minimum, and make them Super Bowl contenders at best.
Atlanta Falcons
Please don’t make me watch another game of Desmond Ridder under center. I know he just put up the best numbers in his young career against the Texans, but call me crazy- I’m not expecting that to be a normal thing. Ridder on the Falcons is like mushrooms on pizza. He makes an overall good thing untouchable, and it’s time for the Falcons to pick the mushrooms off their pizza. Kirk isn’t pepperoni or sausage, he’s black olives- they are really underrated, consistent, and get a bunch of unnecessary hate. Black olives rule, and so would the Falcons with Kirk Cousins.
New England Patriots
If Desmond Ridder is mushrooms on pizza, Mac Jones is a three week old half eaten Little Caser’s pizza that you couldn’t even force yourself to eat another bite of at the time of purchase because it tasted that bad. It feels like the offensive side of the ball has largely passed Bill Belichick by. I could see New England and Kirk being a good match, but he also needs an offensive line and actual receivers to throw to.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers have approximately three major issues: offensive line, offensive coordinator, and quarterback.
Will the notoriously patient organization move on from Kenny Pickett this soon? Likely not. Would they benefit from moving on from Pickett and acquiring Cousins? Absolutely.
New York Giants
It’s very apparent that Daniel Jones is not a long-term starter in the NFL. Shall I make another pizza analogy? Daniel Jones can be anchovies in our pizzeria of perpetually bad quarterback play. Or maybe he’s Canadian bacon that went bad. At least Canadian bacon is good, but if it gets raw, then the entire pie goes to waste.
The Giants need more than just a quarterback- some receivers and an offensive line would be nice- but Cousins can play mistake-free football for a team that relies on strong ball protection.
