The Vikings Said Goodbye to a Quarterback, Leading to a Receiver Addition
Using hindsight gives us an unfair advantage. Basically anyone can be a better general manager than the actual professionals so long as we get to use present-day insights to help us judge the decisions of the past.
Last March, the Vikings said goodbye to Kirk Cousins. No shortage of onlookers applauded the decision but it wasn’t as straightforward as we may now believe. In moving on from Cousins, the Vikings welcomed the uncertainty of Sam Darnold alongside the potential of the 2024 NFL Draft, an event that led to J.J. McCarthy. The decision now looks like a good one (and not just because Kirk Cousins is working through a tense, awkward situation).
The Vikings Said Goodbye to Kirk Cousins
One of the benefits of the Kwesi Adofo-Mensah hiring has been the broader education we have all received on compensatory picks (shout out to Nick Korte of Over the Cap).
In a nutshell, we’re talking about a GM’s capacity to work through a complex intersection between NFL free agency and the NFL draft. Teams can pickup extra draft picks for the following offseason if they lose a specific kind of free-agent talent. So, for instance, the Vikings are projected to gain a 3rd, 5th, and 7th in 2026 due to Sam Darnold, Cam Robinson, and Trent Sherfield taking their talents elsewhere (Korte credit).
The same thing occurred in the 2024 offseason.
Kirk Cousins signed a now infamous four-year pact that’s tipping the scales at $180 million. No, we’re not talking about a decision that’s nearly as horrendous as the Deshaun Watson deal — genuinely, that could be the worst decision in NFL history — but we’re nevertheless talking about a major blunder from Atlanta. The Falcons dished out major money, the Vikings didn’t, and then a draft pick came into play for Minnesota.
In the 2025 NFL Draft, the Vikings scooped up Donovan Jackson at No. 24. Next up for Adofo-Mensah? The No. 97 pick, a compensatory selection that arrived in the Twin Cities due to the aforementioned Atlanta/Cousins contract.
Minnesota could have used that 97th selection, but instead opted to move down. There was a swap with the Texans — a common trade partner for Mr. Adofo-Mensah — that involved picking up the No. 102 pick and the No. 142 pick.
At No. 102, receiver Tai Felton came to town to compete for the WR3 job as early as 2025 (in part due to his route running). In other words, the departure of Kirk Cousins directly fed into Minnesota’s capacity to welcome Felton to town, another weapon for J.J. McCarthy.
One other fascinating tidbit: the No. 142 selection.
Rather than use No. 142 on a player, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah opted to trade down. He did so with the Seahawks, gaining the No. 172 pick (one that was, again, traded) and Sam Howell, who is in line to be the team’s QB2 in 2025.
The Vikings said goodbye to Kirk Cousins in March of 2024. In April of 2025, the Vikings gained the resources necessary to pickup receiver Tai Felton alongside backup quarterback Sam Howell. Not a bad swap, especially given the financial savings.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and Bluesky (@VikingsGazette). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his Substack, The Vikings Gazette, for more great Vikings content.
