A New Backup Option: Vikings Trade For Raiders QB Nick Mullens

The Vikings might have their new backup quarterback. With Sean Mannion and Kellen Mond struggling throughout training camp and the preseason, GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has traded a conditional seventh-round draft pick to the Raiders to acquire QB Nick Mullens.

🚨 QB TRADE ALERT 🚨

The #Vikings have acquired @NickMullens in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders.
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) August 22, 2022

Mullens is a solid low-cost pickup who will get a chance to beat out Mannion and Mond for the Vikings' backup job. The conditions of the pick are that Mullens has to be active for one game this season in order for it to go to Las Vegas. So if he doesn't make the Vikings' roster, they'd keep the pick.

With that said, it's fair to say Mullens is probably the new favorite to be Kirk Cousins' backup in Week 1.

Mullens, 27, has started 17 games in the NFL, going 5-12 in those starts. He has career numbers that include a 64.6 completion percentage, 4,861 passing yards, 26 TDs and 22 INTs, and an 87.3 passer rating. Those might be mediocre numbers, but the Vikings don't need him to start for them. They just need Mullens to be able to come in and given them a chance to win a game or two if Cousins has to miss time. Compared to both Mannion and Mond, Mullens might have a higher floor and ceiling of performance.

Mullens played college football at Southern Mississippi, where he broke some of Brett Favre's records. He signed with the 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2017, spending his rookie season on the practice squad. In 2018, when both Jimmy Garoppolo and C.J. Beathard had gotten hurt, Mullens stepped in as the starter. He was electric in his first NFL game, throwing three touchdowns in a 34-3 demolition of the Raiders. However, Mullens and the 49ers went just 2-5 the rest of the way. He played well in all three wins, but finished with a 13-10 TD/INT ratio on the season.

In 2019, Mullens went back to backup duties behind a healthy Garoppolo as the 49ers reached the Super Bowl. He started another 8 games in 2020, going 2-6 with slightly worse statistics than he had recorded two years earlier.

After a brief summer stint with the Eagles last year, Mullens was signed by the Browns and ended up appearing in one game for them. He signed with the Raiders this spring.

Adofo-Mensah has connections to Mullens from both the 49ers and Browns, which helps explain this move.

The Vikings also got a good look at Mullens just over a week ago, when he went 7 of 9 for 94 yards and a touchdown against them in preseason action.

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