No Matter Who is Available, an Early Round QB Pick Makes No Sense
Josh Frey
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Despite handing out Kirk Cousins another contract extension earlier this offseason, that hasn’t stopped people in the Vikings-verse from looking longingly at some young QB prospects in the NFL draft. It makes sense. Even in a weak class like this one, the prospect of drafting a new man under center, especially for a playoff-hungry fan base like Minnesota, seems enticing. However, as green as the grass may seem, under no scenario should the Minnesota Vikings draft a quarterback in the first two days of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Firstly, the Minnesota Vikings have committed to Kirk Cousins for at least the 2022 and 2023 seasons. His no-trade clause within his new contract suggests this, and unless the Vikings take a full-180 within the next 12 months towards a complete rebuild, prompting a Cousins trade request, Minnesota has their guy for the next two years.
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By drafting a quarterback, the Vikings would be content with making him Jordan Love and sitting him behind their starter for multiple years; eating up at least half of his rookie contract in the process. A good quarterback is neve more valuable than he is on his rookie deal, and Minnesota would squander much of that value by putting him on the bench. This may be worth it in Green Bay, but Kirk Cousins is not Aaron Rodgers.
An early QB also goes against everything that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell have done to this point in their Vikings tenure. As aforementioned, a complete rebuild would be a 180-degree turn from where they are now. Every move the new leaders have made suggests a desire to win immediately. Extending Cousins, signing Za’Darius Smith, pushing money into future years, etc.
Say what you will about someone like Malik Willis, but even if the Vikings were not committed to Cousins for these next few years, he is not a player that is ready to immediately come into the NFL and lead a franchise to contention. There isn’t a QB in this draft that rises to that standard.
Finally, the Vikings current QB clearly has an affinity for having a veteran as his backup. Minnesota drafted Kellen Mond in the third round last year, and the assumption was that he would end up being Cousins backup quarterback, potentially growing into the starter role. Rather than following that path, Minnesota decided to bring back Sean Mannion who suited up as the backup in 2021 and has been signed once again going into 2022. Even with an underwhelming talent at QB2, there seems to be a low likelihood that a draft pick would provide any value to Cousins as a backup.
Overall, Minnesota needs to consider a number of positions during their 2022 NFL Draft. Needs across the defense as well as the offensive line provide a number of directions for the new GM to go in; QB should not be one of them.