Vikings make a trade to keep hope alive after Kirk Cousins injury

The Minnesota Vikings may be down, but they're not out of the mix in 2023. The Vikings are very much in the thick of the NFC Wild Card race even after starting off this season an abysmal 1-4. They've won three games in a row and were feeling really good up until they saw their franchise quarterback having to be carted off of the field in Sunday's win against the Green Bay Packers.

The Kirk Cousins injury was brutal, but the Vikings' backup QB situation might be even worse. They are left with rookie Jaren Hall out of BYU, a fifth-round pick in this year's draft, as well as former 49ers and Raiders backup Nick Mullens on the roster. Needless to say, the timing of Cousins' injury was at least slightly beneficial to the Vikings as they were able to make a trade before the October 31 NFL trade deadline.

And they did.

The Vikings have acquired former Cardinals and Titans starter Joshua Dobbs, who has been starting for Arizona since Week 1 of this season. Arizona appears ready to insert Kyler Murray back into the lineup in the near future, and Dobbs did his part. The Cardinals have the worst record in the NFL, but Dobbs actually came in and did a pretty darn good job.

He completed just under 63 percent of his passes with eight touchdowns, five interceptions, 258 yards rushing, and three rushing touchdowns. He does also have eight fumbles this season, including a fumble in five straight games leading up to this trade with the Vikings.

I really like this trade for Minnesota. The Vikings sent a 6th-round pick to the Cardinals in exchange for Dobbs and a 7th-round pick. Those types of late-round pick swaps are so good for each team, and I'm glad to see more NFL teams are doing that these days when they are able to do so.

Dobbs is going to Minnesota where his previous coaches have many connections, but none of those connections really remain at this point. Both Drew Petzing and Kevin Stefanski -- who coached Dobbs with both the Cardinals and Browns respectively -- were previously assistants in Minnesota. Now, Kevin O'Connell and his staff are acquiring Dobbs, and he will be asked to learn the offense quickly so the Vikings can figure things out as quickly as possible with a road matchup against the Falcons on tap for Week 9.

Dobbs was added by the Cardinals just before the start of the 2023 season, and was able to pick things up quickly and play well almost right away. He did the same thing last year when he was picked up by Tennessee, who he nearly helped make the playoffs. The Vikings will be asking a lot of Dobbs here but he's hopefully going to have Justin Jefferson returning sometime in the near future, and plenty of good weapons besides.