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Going into this offseason, we knew that the Minnesota Vikings would face several decisions that would significantly impact the franchise’s direction. They could re-sign the core of their 2023 roster, returning largely the same group in 2024 and possibly beyond. Alternatively, depending on who they decided to re-sign, they could use this offseason to reshape the team significantly.
It may have been based on previous GM’s actions. But I assumed the Vikings would figure out a way to re-sign the safer bet at quarterback, even if it were more expensive than they’d hoped. It was less risky than paying the price to move up or drafting the leftovers at quarterback at pick No. 11 or later.
After we learned that Kirk Cousins would be signing with the Atlanta Falcons, I, like many fans, began scouring the internet, television, and radio for any hint about what the now quarterback-less Vikings are planning for the future and the upcoming draft. Soon after, Minnesota made a deal with the Houston Texans for the 23rd pick in this year’s draft, making it clear that this off-season would be different.
As tortured as the Vikings’ fanbase has been over the past few years, the team has not had many uncompetitive seasons. As a result, they have not had many top-15 draft picks, especially when they needed a new starting quarterback. The Vikings selected both Christian Ponder and Daunte Culpepper within the top 15 selections of their respective draft classes, but both were the fourth quarterbacks taken in those drafts.
Almost immediately after the trade with Houston, NFL insiders, TV analysts, radio hosts, and draft experts assumed that the Vikings would use both of their first-round selections in a trade package that would land them into the top five this year, intent on selecting one of the top quarterbacks in this year’s class.
This notion was difficult for this Vikings fan to believe, but it’s not because the scenario is unbelievable. That seems to be the plan for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the Vikings. But this is rarified air for fans. We are most comfortable watching this team reel in unremarkable journeyman starters to replace a seemingly never-ending line of unremarkable journeyman starting quarterbacks.
But the Vikings are searching for a franchise quarterback this offseason, and we should enjoy it.
Soon enough, we will know who Minnesota’s new quarterback will be. Eventually, we will actually be able to watch him play football. We will dissect his performances and have every right to lambaste the Vikings if their chosen signal caller fails to shine.
But today, we are fans of a team whose front office is ready to take a big swing at a player who could improve the franchise’s path. Isn’t that what we want?
There are a million ways this could go south, and the Vikings seem to have a history of bad luck and poor decisions regarding quarterbacks. But between now and the beginning of the 2024 season, there’s still hope that this could be the best thing that has ever happened to this franchise. Let your Vikings-related optimism run free, if only for the rest of this offseason. Allow yourself to believe that the gamble might pay off. There is an elite quarterback on the horizon, and things might work out for this franchise after all.