12 veteran QB options for Vikings ahead of 2023 NFL trade deadline

The Vikings won their third straight game Sunday in routing the Packers. But they also lost their quarterback, with Kirk Cousins suffering a season-ending Achilles tear. It’s an ill-timed blow for a team that had begun building momentum in the NFC North, but it’s a hurdle Minnesota will have to clear quickly if it intends to remain in the postseason mix.

That’s easier said than done, of course. The only other healthy QB on the Vikings roster is rookie Jaren Hall, a fifth-round BYU product who threw his first NFL passes against Green Bay in Week 8. Veteran backup Nick Mullens is on injured reserve with a back issue, while former No. 2 Sean Mannion just rejoined the team’s practice squad earlier this month.

Odds are, one of those three QBs will replace Cousins in the short term. But what if coach Kevin O’Connell and Co. are desperate not to squander the Vikings’ rise to 4-4? This may be a franchise right in the middle of a “competitive rebuild,” as general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah put it this offseason, but with a wild card bid still well within reach, an emergency upgrade could be possible.