Sports
Vikings Territory: Kellen Mond Could See Regular Season Action Sooner Than Expected
If Minnesota flounders in 2021 like it did in 2020, Cousins-to-elsewhere may be on the docket via trade or otherwise next offseason.
August 3, 2021
The Minnesota Vikings drafted Kellen Mond in the 3rd Round of the 2021 NFL Draft after a spiffy trade involving draft picks with the New York Jets.
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And there it was – Minnesota holsters a contingency plan for Kirk Cousins who is contractually committed to the organization through the end of 2022. If Minnesota flounders in 2021 like it did in 2020, Cousins-to-elsewhere may be on the docket via trade or otherwise next offseason.
That’s the long-term forecast. Stash Mond on the bench at QB2 for a year or two and let him learn as Patrick Mahomes did in Kansas City. It’s foolproof, right?
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Why? Because the strong implication from the coronavirus-related fallout is that Cousins is not vaccinated. Therefore, he will be subject to a special set of rules until he gets the vaccine – and there is no current evidence to suggest that is on his agenda. Cousins has never missed a professional football game due to injury, but this no-vaccine stuff might cause him to miss regular-season games if last weekend was a reasonable indicator.
That could be true. Let’s theorize, for instance, Cousins is held out of the lineup in the regular season because of another COVID ordeal. Browning enters – underwhelms. The famous Saturday night practice was a mirage. Believe it or not, some players perform well in practice and preseason but fail to translate that output to regular-season games. If that happens to Browning, for some reason, the Vikings won’t stand around and hope he figures it out – not with a playoff chase underway.
Boom – the Vikings would get a glimpse of Mond in the 2021 season, significantly sooner than anyone envisioned. Rookie quarterbacks are thrust into the fire ad nauseam leaguewide, so the notion of “ruining” or “alienated” Mond is a mindset entrenched in the 1990s.
Then, dealings would get very interesting. Cousins, a handsomely-paid and apparently unvaccinated quarterback, would watch to see what Mond is all about.
Minnesota has a vested interest to watch Mond thrive. He’s younger and more affordable than Cousins.
This press release was produced by Vikings Territory. The views expressed here are the author’s own.
