Justin Jefferson to go on IR, Vikings should begin to blow up roster
With star WR Justin Jefferson headed to IR, the Minnesota Vikings should begin the process of blowing up their roster and gearing up for a full rebuild. The best WR in the NFL is set to miss at least four games with a hamstring injury he suffered in Week 5 of the 2023 NFL season against the Kansas City Chiefs.
As you can imagine, Jefferson was off to another blazing start. The future HOF receiver (yes, I am going there already) is arguably the best player in the NFL and easily the best player on the Minnesota Vikings. Well, the Vikes are 1-4 on the season and clearly are not a playoff team. Their magical run in 2022, winning 13 games with a negative point differential proved to be a farce.
Now that Jefferson is headed to IR, the Vikings should already accept defeat in 2023 and begin to trade some veteran players to spark a rebuild. The players that come to mind the most would be guys like Kirk Cousins, Danielle Hunter, Harrison Smith, and Jordan Hicks. I'd even say consider trading Jefferson for the right price, but that probably won't happen.
The Vikings need to get younger and more explosive on each side of the ball. Some of their core players that I just listed are still very effective, but would serve the team better netting them draft picks for a rebuild. Kirk Cousins is the most intriguing player that I think could be traded. He leads the league in completions, attempts, and touchdown passes.
And right now, I think there are some teams that could benefit from adding the passer, who is a free agent at the end of the year. The most obvious team is the New York Jets, who won't go anywhere with Zach Wilson under center. Trading for Cousins has a half-year rental makes sense to me. The other team that makes a bit of sense is the Atlanta Falcons, who are 3-2 in spite of Desmond Ridder, the struggling second-year QB.
Cousins could fetch multiple picks back in a trade, and while he's a good QB, the Vikings don't really have any reason to stick with him in the future. He's not leading this current roster to a Super Bowl and is in his age-35 season. Cousins has had a pretty solid tenure in Minnesota, but it's time for the team to turn the page.
The Minnesota Vikings need to begin blowing it up.