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It's a new era in Minnesota. The Vikings moved on from head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman, ushering in new front office leader Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. The team is also expected to name Los Angeles Rams head coach Kevin O'Connell as their new head coach. Sometimes, NFL teams opt to go with a new head coach, general manager and quarterback all at once, so as to start fresh. That would certainly make sense for these Vikings, who are seemingly stuck in between rebuilding and contention. They're not quite good enough to contend, but not quite bad enough to fully rebuild. That means that the Vikings can either move forward with 33-year-old Kirk Cousins, or they can try to capitalize on an offseason where many teams will be on the hunt for a quarterback- and trade Cousins. If the Vikings ultimately decide to move on from Cousins, there will likely be several interested teams, even though he's not the hottest commodity on the quarterback market. Here are the three best trade destinations for Cousins if the Vikings decide to move him.
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3 Best Trade Destinations For Vikings' Kirk Cousins
3. Washington Commanders
Kirk Cousins has already played for Washington, back when he was a rookie in 2012. Cousins played there from 2012 to 2017 and it was his success as a member of the Commanders franchise that led to his eventual arrival in Minnesota. Washington enjoyed success with Taylor Heinicke at quarterback this past season, but they have been unable to find a decent signal-caller since Cousins departed. The Commanders are within striking distance in the NFC East, as they are clearly better than the rebuilding New York Giants and could at least be Wild-Card caliber with a more capable signal-caller. It's unclear if the Vikings would trade Cousins within the Conference, though the Commanders would make sense as a trade partner if they did.
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2. Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers fans probably want the team to make a post-Ben Roethlisberger splash, but that doesn't seem likely. However, the Steelers can't afford to let the strong core they have go to waste. Pittsburgh has a championship-level defense and some strong playmakers on the offensive end, as well as a great head coach in Mike Tomlin. The Steelers have the pieces in place to make a run but need a better quarterback to do it. For all the criticisms that Cousins has taken, he hasn't always had the best teams around him but has consistently delivered with 25-plus touchdown passes in each of the last seven seasons. Give Cousins an elite defense, a good running back in Najee Harris and strong weapons, such as Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool, and see what he can do in the AFC.
1. Denver Broncos
It's no secret that the Broncos are in the market for a quarterback. With the ninth overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Minnesota could opt to go for a young signal-caller. However, the Broncos might want to make a splash via trade, and they should opt for an NFC North quarterback if they do. No, not Aaron Rodgers. The Broncos should trade for Cousins. Denver just hired former Vikings offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, who is very familiar with Cousins, to be their quarterbacks coach. Cousins has enjoyed some of the better statistical seasons of his career under Kubiak and could revive some of that success if he followed Kubiak to Denver, especially with weapons such as Jerry Jeudy, Cortland Sutton, and Noah Fant. Cousins isn't the flashiest quarterback, but he might make the most sense for the Broncos.
