The Minnesota Vikings have one of the youngest and least experienced QB rooms in the NFL heading into what could be a Super Bowl season if the franchise can get elite play from the position.
Those circumstances potentially set up for another move under center before the regular season arrives in early September.
Insider Seth Walder of ESPN suggested such a deal on Wednesday, June 4, in which Minnesota sends the Atlanta Falcons backup quarterback Sam Howell and cash considerations in exchange for former Vikings starter Kirk Cousins.
"The key to the compensation for a Cousins deal is how much of his guaranteed money the acquiring team will take on. I'll ... say the Vikings pay $12 million of it. This would allow Atlanta to save a little face and get out of the situation with a different backup quarterback," Walder wrote . "For Minnesota, the upgrade at backup QB is more important because of the McCarthy situation. Cousins will have to accept a lesser role with his old team, but at least he'd be reunited with coach Kevin O'Connell."
Atlanta signed Cousins away from Minnesota in free agency ahead of the 2024 campaign, after which the Vikings inked Sam Darnold to a one-year deal and turned him into a Pro Bowler and also drafted McCarthy with the No. 10 overall pick.
The Falcons agreed to pay the four-time Pro Bowl quarterback $180 million, including $100 million guaranteed, despite the fact that he was heading into his age-36 season and coming off of a torn Achilles tendon. Atlanta owes Cousins $27.5 million more this year after paying him a $10 million roster bonus in March.
Cousins started 14 games for the Falcons last season, going 7-7 and throwing for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns and a league-leading 16 interceptions . Atlanta replaced him late in the year with then-rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr., whom the team selected No. 8 overall during the previous offseason.
