The Vikings said goodbye to a Quarterback, which led to an addition of a recipient

The use of afterwards gives us an unfair advantage. In principle, everyone can be a better general manager than the actual professionals, as long as we can use current insights to help us assess the decisions of the past.

Last March the Vikings said goodbye to Kirk Cousins. No shortage of spectators welcomed the decision, but it was not as easy as we might believe now. When Cousins ​​continued, the Vikings welcomed the uncertainty of Sam Darnold in addition to the potential of the NFL design of 2024, an event that led to JJ McCarthy. The decision now looks like a good one (And not only because Kirk Cousins ​​works through a tense, uncomfortable situation).

The Vikings said goodbye to Kirk Cousins

One of the benefits of the Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Recruitment is the broader education that we have all received about compensating picks (shout to Nick Korte van Over the cap).

In short, we are talking about the ability of a GM to work through a complex intersection between NFL Free Agency and the NFL Draft. Teams can pick up extra concept choices for the next low season if they lose a specific kind of free-agent talent. So, for example, the Vikings are expected to win a 3rd, 5th and 7th in 2026 because of Sam Darnold, Cam Robinson and Trent Sherfield who take their talents elsewhere (short credit).

The same happened in the low season of 2024.

Kirk Cousins ​​drew a notorious four -year pact that the scale has at $ 180 million. No, we are not talking about a decision that is almost as terrible as the Deshaun Watson deal – really, that could be the worst decision in the NFL history – but we nevertheless talk about a big blunder from Atlanta. The Falcons threw great money, the Vikings did not, and then a pull choice came to the game for Minnesota.

In the NFL design of 2025, the Vikingen Donovan Jackson picked up at no. 24. Next for Adofo-Mensah? The No. 97 Pick, a compensatory selection that arrived in the Twin Cities because of the aforementioned contract from Atlanta/Cousins.

Minnesota could have used that 97th selection, but chose to go down. There was a swap with the Texanen-a common trading partner for Mr Adofo-Mensah-where to the No. 102 Pick and the No. 142 Pick.

At No. 102, recipient Tai Felton came to the city to compete in 2025 to the WR3baan (partly because of his route). In other words, the departure of Kirk -Neven and nieces that are directly fed in Minnesota to welcome Felton to the city, another weapon for JJ McCarthy.

Another fascinating pieces: the selection no. 142.

Instead of using no. 142 on a player, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah chose to trade in. He did this with the Seahawks and received the No. 172 Pick (one that was again traded) and Sam Howell, who stands in line to be the QB2 of the team in 2025.

The Vikings said goodbye to Kirk Cousins ​​in March 2024. In April 2025, the Vikings were given the means to pick up recipient Tai Felton next to Back -up Quarterback Sam Howell. Not a bad exchange, especially given the financial savings.

Editors note: information from Pro Football Reference And Over the cap helped with this piece.

K. Joudrry is the senior editor for Vikings Territory And Purple. He has been covering the Vikings full -time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and Bluesky (@Vikingsgazette). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his substit The Vikings GazetteFor more great Vikings content.

I am the senior editor for Vikings Territory & Purple . Twitter & Bluesky: @Vikingsgazette. E -Mail: K.JOUDRY[at]purple[dot]com. I am Canadian.