Dumb Vikings Rumor is Finally, Actually, Unequivocally, Officially Dead
You had to assume it was never going to come true, but you can never truly utter the word “never” when it comes to the absolute circus that is the National Football League, especially when it involves the Minnesota Vikings Football Club.
The murmurs you hear from your annoying co-worker at your 9-5 office job in some Twin Cities skyscraper about a certain former Vikings QB returning to the team to back up J.J. McCarthy officially died on Saturday when the Vikings made a deal with the now Sam Darnold-led Seattle Seahawks for QB Sam Howell.
Seattle drafted Alabama QB Jalen Milroe with the 92nd selection of the NFL Draft, a potential succession plan for the post-Darnold era in the city, thus making Sam Howell even more expendable.
The Vikings and Seahawks pulled the trigger on a deal that sent Howell packing his bags to the Land of 10,000 Lakes, where Minnesota sent the 142nd selection of the 2025 NFL Draft to Seattle in exchange for the 172nd pick and the rights to employ Sam Howell.
The Seahawks traded for Howell from Washington just 13 months ago, where they sent a 2024 3rd-round pick and a 2024 5th-round pick in exchange for a 2024 4th-round pick, a 2024 6th-round pick, and Howell.
Howell will probably win the QB2 job pretty easily, as his only competition at this point in time is Brett Rypien and UDFA QB Max Brosmer from the Minnesota Golden Gophers. To state the obvious, as if it wasn’t obvious before this trade was conceived on Saturday, Kirk Cousins will officially not be returning to the Vikings.
In addition, it seems as if he won’t be headed to Cleveland either, a team that had a lot of rumors surrounding their potential marriage with Cousins. Their QB room now boasts Deshaun Watson, Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, and Shedeur Sanders.
Kirk Cousins remains in Atlanta for now, and the only true option he seems to have left if he wants to be given a job as a starting NFL QB is Pittsburgh, now with a QB room of Mason Rudolph and Will Howard being the only ones of note. This, of course, is still pending the decision from Aaron Rodgers, who also seems to have Pittsburgh as his only option if he wants to start action in 2025.
Cousins will have to weigh his options and will likely have to swallow his pride and continue on his path of being a high-caliber backup QB to a younger signal caller and provide insurance for some franchise in the NFL that is in need of his high-floor services if he were to be a QB2.
Whether that is for his current team in the Atlanta Falcons, or some other team with a young QB and shaky QB room like the Las Vegas Raiders or New England Patriots, all signs point to the controversial and divisive former QB having to hold a clipboard on the sideline in 2025. Most importantly, it won’t be with the Minnesota Vikings, and it never was going to be.
