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Near the start of the third round, the Vikings made an interesting decision: they took a quarterback,
Minnesota nabbed Texas A&M QB Kellen Mond with the No. 66 overall pick. Mond has dual-threat potential at the NFL level. He has been good under pressure at the college level as well.
If Mond develops, that could mean Minnesota has a quarterback for the future. But that’s the key word: “future.” The Vikings have a definitive starter for the short term in Kirk Cousins and Mond is a project.
After day two of the draft concluded, Minnesota GM Rick Spielman said “Kirk’s our starting quarterback. There’s no competition there.”
Cousins is signed with the team through 2022. In that year, Minnesota would take a $45 million dead money hit, earning nothing in cap savings if it cut him, so that’s pretty much impossible. In 2021, the dead money hit is even higher.
However, a trade is in the cards for 2022, with the Vikings incurring a $10 million dead money hit and saving $35 million if they find a suitor for Cousins. A trade in 2021 is possible, but the Vikings would take a $20 million dead money hit with the move (all numbers courtesy of Over the Cap).
Still, that’s a hard contract to get out of. Another thing to consider: Mond had some issues with accuracy at the collegiate level. I doubt he’s a player who can come in and start as early as 2021.
So, at the earliest, Mond could be the starter in 2022, in my opinion. Although, if Minnesota likes how he’s come along, they may just move on from Cousins in 2023 and go with Mond from there.
Until then, Cousins naysayers will have to wait to see how Mond progresses. If Mond doesn’t improve to the Vikings’ liking, the team may just stick with Cousins.
Cousins is, of course, a good quarterback — there’s no question of that. But there is some question as to how good he can be. Can Cousins ever enter into the upper echelon of elite NFL quarterbacks? If not, his contract might be too pricey for Minnesota to allocate enough resources to other positions outside of quarterback and be a definitive Super Bowl contender.
At least the team did a good job of adding a resource to the quarterback position in the draft. That gives the Vikings the possibility of a mobile starting quarterback on a cheaper contract than Cousins. For now, fans will have to wait. Barring anything unexpected, Cousins is the starter for 2021.
Will Cousins be the starter after that? It could very well depend on Mond.