Vikings' 0-3 Start Likely to Increase Kirk Cousins Trade Speculation
The Vikings lost in gut-wrenching fashion once again on Sunday. With a chance to pull off a dramatic comeback victory over the Chargers, Kirk Cousins' pass was deflected multiple times and intercepted in the end zone in the game's final seconds.
The loss dropped the Vikings to 0-3. They're now two games behind both the Packers and Lions in the NFC North after those teams won on Sunday. Historically, teams basically never recover from 0-3 starts to make the playoffs.
This defeat figures to only increase speculation around the idea of the Vikings trading Cousins, their 35-year-old quarterback who is in the final year of his contract. Cousins has put up incredible numbers to start this season; as of Sunday evening, he led the NFL in both passing yards (1,075) and passing touchdowns (9). He's thrown for at least 344 yards in all three games, but it hasn't been enough to get the Vikings their first win.
Sports talk shows have already been discussing the idea of a Cousins trade to the New York Jets, who lost Aaron Rodgers to a season-ending Achilles injury four plays into their opener. After the results of Sunday's Week 3 action, that's not going to stop. Not only was Cousins excellent in another Vikings loss, but Zach Wilson played very poorly in the Jets' 15-10 loss against the Patriots. Wilson went 18 of 36 for 157 yards and no touchdowns against New England.
The Jets have lost two in a row, falling to 1-2 despite having a roster loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. Their quarterback simply isn't good enough. The Vikings are 0-3 despite the strong play of their veteran QB, who doesn't seem to be in their plans beyond this season. On paper, you can understand why many analysts and fans believe a trade that sends Cousins to New York would make sense.
Realistically, it almost certainly isn't happening in the immediate future. Even at 0-3, it would be shocking if the Vikings gave up on this season by shipping off their starting quarterback.
"I believe in this team," head coach Kevin O'Connell said after the loss. "I believe in the makeup of this team. I believe in our leadership. I believe in our coaches, and we are going to continue to work. We can be disappointed, and we can be very upset about the outcome today, which everybody in that locker room, coaches and players included, we are. We're right there with our fans and feel it. But hopefully — our backs are against the wall now. We've got to find a way to get our first win this week and go on the road to do it and just see if we can start stacking them from there and working our way out. Got a lot of football left."
At the same time, a Cousins trade doesn't seem like something that can be written off completely, depending on how the next month and change plays out for the Vikings. Here's what their schedule looks like leading into the October 31st trade deadline:
- Week 4 (10/1): at Panthers (0-3)
- Week 5 (10/8): vs. Chiefs (2-1)
- Week 6 (10/15): at Bears (0-3)
- Week 7 (10/22): vs. 49ers (3-0)
- Week 8 (10/29): at Packers (2-1)
On paper, the Vikings should be able to beat the Panthers and Bears, but they're going to have a tough time — even at home — against the Chiefs and 49ers, who are two of the best teams in the NFL. The Packers have also looked pretty good through three weeks, and winning at Lambeau Field is never easy.
If the Vikings can find a way to get to 4-4 or even 3-5 by going above .500 in this stretch, they won't be trading Cousins — especially because their second half schedule isn't too daunting. But what if they're 2-6 or worse? In that case, you'd think GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah would have to at least consider seeing if Cousins would be open to waiving his no-trade clause.
The issue with the wait-and-see idea, though, is that the Jets might want a new quarterback as soon as possible. They may decide that they can't let Wilson continue to ruin their season. What happens if they call up the Vikings this week and make an extremely juicy offer? Or, put it this way: What would the offer have to be to make Adofo-Mensah think about it?
Another tricky thing about a possible Cousins trade is that he would have to learn a new offense on the fly. The longer he remains in Minnesota, the less time he would have to do that with a new team. And ultimately, the no-trade clause means Cousins has the choice to stay with the Vikings all year if he wants to, even if Adofo-Mensah wants to trade him.
In a hypothetical world where the Vikings trade Cousins at some point, they would hand things over to Nick Mullens or Jaren Hall and improve their odds of ending up with a high pick in a 2024 draft that is loaded with intriguing quarterback prospects. But there are all kinds of angles to consider, with a big one being Justin Jefferson and how he would feel about a Cousins trade. Jefferson and the Vikings didn't reach an agreement on a contract extension this offseason.
There are a lot of moving parts that make a Cousins trade unlikely. But with the Vikings falling to 0-3 and the Jets looming as an obvious potential fit for a talented veteran QB who is off to a hot start, don't expect the speculation to quiet down this week.
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