Kirk Cousins' season-ending injury ignites Vikings-Patriots trade talks

Because so many New England fans are hoping Bill Belichick will decide mid-season to trade away Mac Jones, the news of Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins' season-ending injury has excited them about the possibility of a trade within the next 36 hours as the deadline nears.

Suppose you're already out on Jones as the quarterback of the future, especially the immediate future. In that case, it makes sense that this feels like the perfect opportunity for the Patriots to move on from him as soon as possible.

The problem is that the Vikings have a rookie they can go with without giving up any draft capital, which seems like the better scenario for them now.

Cousins' injury came at the absolute worst possible time. The Vikings were playing well and only one game behind becoming the leaders of the NFC North. Despite their fairly even record, they had only lost three games by one score or less, making their path to the top appear a bit easier than had their losses been far worse.

The offense rose to the occasion after Justin Jefferson was placed on injured reserve with no timetable set for his return, and Cousins was a big reason for that. Now that he will be out for the remainder of the season, and they're still in play to make the postseason, the Vikings will have some big decisions regarding the quarterback position.

But why would they want to trade for Mac Jones, who hasn't played well this season and doesn't provide any sort of assurance that he could get the job done better than the rookie you've had working with the team for the last several months?

On top of that, what would they be willing to give up? Minnesota is in an unfavorable situation next year and needs to find a way to create cap space because they are currently projected to be over the allotted amount for 2024. That means they need to cut players and will want to add draft picks as a result, not giving them up for an experimental season with a quarterback.

And how does that trade benefit New England? They would be in a worse situation because they would have no quarterback, meaning they'd have to take another chance in the draft on a rookie or sign a veteran bridge quarterback to do good enough to keep them afloat.

It doesn't seem like a real-life trade scenario that anyone should be looking forward to unless you're an avid Madden player.