LOSERS
Minnesota Vikings: At some point the Vikings had to move on from Kirk Cousins. Giving Cousins another $180 million deal, which he got from the Atlanta Falcons, probably wasn’t going to change the team’s Super Bowl trajectory. There’s also a lot of risk involved with Cousins, who is about to turn 36 and coming off an Achilles injury, that wasn’t mentioned often on Monday. We saw what the Vikings’ ceiling was with Cousins, and it was time for something else.
But that something else isn’t ideal.
The Vikings lost the game of quarterback musical chairs. They settled on Sam Darnold for $10 million over one year, which won’t get anyone excited. The draft is coming too, but Minnesota has the 11th pick and could be looking at the fifth-best quarterback in the class at that spot. It could work out but there’s no guarantee.
The NFC North is going to be very good this season. The Detroit Lions made smart moves to acquire defensive end Marcus Davenport and cornerback Carlton Davis. The Packers agreed to deals with running back Josh Jacobs and safety Xavier McKinney. The Bears retained cornerback Jaylon Johnson and agreed to a deal with running back D’Andre Swift. And the Vikings are going to be entering an uncomfortable transition season.