Minnesota Vikings mock draft: Moving on from Kirk Cousins in 2022?

Will the Minnesota Vikings move on from Kirk Cousins in the 2022 offseason? If they do, they could target a big-time athlete at QB in the 2022 NFL Draft.

The Minnesota Vikings are off to a very disappointing 0-2 start to the 2021 season with a couple of close losses on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals. In fact, they would have won a tough road matchup with the Cardinals if not for a missed field goal late in the game.

Brutal.

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1439733214373888002

In case you wanted to re-live it.

At any rate, the Minnesota Vikings should absolutely still have sights set on the 2021 season and competing in the NFC North for a playoff spot.

As tough as playoff spots may be to come by this season in the NFC, this is a massive year for the Vikings and, maybe specifically, Kirk Cousins.

Cousins signed a two-year contract extension with the Vikings before the 2020 season which converted his 2020 salary to a guarantee and gave him a fully guaranteed $21 million in 2021 as well as a $30 signing bonus.

Cousins is closing in on $200 million in career earnings, believe it or not.

The Vikings could save $35 million in 2022 cap space if they were able to trade Cousins to a willing partner, and by willing, I mean someone willing to take on that $35 million.

If the Minnesota Vikings miss out on the playoffs in 2021, however, will the team be motivated to move on from the former big-money free agent?

How would missing the playoffs affect the Vikings in the 2022 NFL Draft?

Let’s try to project given their current standing, which if the season ended today would be with the 6th overall pick.