The Kirk Cousins conundrum is here once again for the Minnesota Vikings. Rumors have been swirling about what the Vikings might do, and the latest have the Vikings either signing Cousins to a multi-year extension or letting the situation play out in 2023.
If the Vikings choose to do the latter, they will need to start thinking about a succession plan. That could very well come in the NFL draft this April. If they do choose to take one, the first round feels like an unlikely spot.
There is a way for that to happen, but it would require making a drastic trade up or having one of the top quarterbacks fall to them. That quarterback would be Florida’s Anthony Richardson.
In a piece for NFL.com, Lance Zierlein explored potential teams to select Richardson and he believed that the Vikings are a “sneaky interesting” landing spot.
I think this would be a sneaky-interesting landing spot for Richardson — if he were to make it all the way to No. 23, which seems like a long shot in itself. Kirk Cousins would clearly be the starter in 2023, which would allow Richardson a chance to take mental reps for an entire season before potentially taking the reins in 2024 with some talented pieces around him.
Here on Vikings Wire, I have opined about that very thing and even made the argument for taking the Florida quarterback. It isn’t the most likely scenario, but anything can happen in the NFL draft. Nobody thought Aaron Rodgers would fall to 24th overall in 2005 either.
As far as a fit, the Vikings would be a good one. The flaws that Richardson has are mostly mechanical ones that can be worked on and (hopefully) fixed with time. Plus, the Vikings offense is semi-complex in comparison to what he ran at Florida. If they give him time to grow and learn under Cousins and Kevin O’Connell, they could have a real superstar on their hands.
