Kirk Cousins might be the present for the Minnesota Vikings, but Malik Willis could be the quarterback of the future, depending on how things unfold at the 2022 NFL Draft.
Unless the team comes to terms on a major extension with Cousins, it would be tempting if the top quarterback prospect is there for the taking when the Vikings are up at No. 12. Obviously, the odds aren’t in their favor that 11 other teams would pass on a possible game-changing talent like Willis.
NFL.com’s media draft analyst Lance Zierlein gives the Vikings a 15 percent chance to land the Liberty quarterback on night one. The only other teams ahead of them are the Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Commanders and Denver Broncos.
Cousins will count $45 million against the salary cap for the Vikings in the 2022 season, which is the third-highest cap hit among NFL quarterbacks.
It’s a problem with the team sitting at $15 million over the cap right now. There’s hope that the two sides could come to some sort of agreement that would keep Cousins in a Vikings uniform, along with freeing up cap space for the team to sign other players.
Of course, that’s assuming it has anything to do with Cousins—at all.
If the Vikings believe in Willis enough, it might be wise for them to just take him and not handcuff themselves to Cousins for the foreseeable future. The likelihood of him actually being there at No. 12, however, is slim to none.
There are too many quarterback-needy teams ahead of the Vikings for fans to get their hopes up.
[listicle id=60822]