Extend Cousins or ... ?

So while the thematic draft landed the Vikings a partner for Justin Jefferson (and new toy for head coach Kevin O’Connell) and versatile defensive pieces for new defensive coordinator Brian Flores to mold into his shape-shifting scheme, the Vikings did not find an answer to the biggest question that faces their future: Quarterback.

When the Vikings were on the clock with the 23rd overall pick, they could have taken Kentucky quarterback Will Levis. They could have sat him for one year behind Kirk Cousins and then turned the keys over to him and taken all the advantages that come along with a rookie quarterback contract.

Instead they chose to make the future supporting cast better for Future Starting QB X and picked a mature fifth-round quarterback in Jaren Hall.

When Adofo-Mensah was asked what it all means, he opened the door to an eventual Cousins extension, which had appeared to be off the table after they restructured his deal.

“Sometimes you come to a place where it's like, let's talk later, this is the solution for now,” Adofo-Mensah said of the Cousins contract situation. “That's all that's happened. In this year and this draft we found an opportunity to get a player [Hall] that we frankly thought should have been picked long before then.”

Leaving every option open by not picking Levis or Hendon Hooker has a good chance to be the right decision. First, it’s preferable for the Vikings to take a quarterback that head coach Kevin O’Connell wants rather than pairing him with Levis just because it’s theoretically a good idea to take a swing at quarterback.

There were only two options in this draft for the Vikings whereas the 2024 draft could have more options, particularly if they have more draft capital to move up in a trade. There’s also the possibility of another veteran looking for a home. At this time last year, did we expect Aaron Rodgers to be a Jet? Or Derek Carr to play for the Saints? Did we ever think Matthew Stafford would be a Ram or Tom Brady a Buc?

Extending Cousins and forgoing the opportunity to even look at those options would be a puzzling choice considering his age, the price tag and the current regime not being tied to him. While we did see a middle class of QB contracts emerge this offseason with Carr and Daniel Jones landing deals between $37-$40 million, that’s still in the ballpark of 15% of the salary cap — a model that hasn’t worked. Would they really want to lock in for multiple years and restrict themselves in terms of roster building and QB flexibility?

Of course, there have been teams who ended up stuck without a good quarterback for many years and many coaches and GMs got fired along the way. Washington is set to start a fifth-rounder. The Jets tried multiple times at the top of the draft and failed. The Colts and Washington failed attempting rekindling Carson Wentz’s early-career success.

“We like where we are at the quarterback position, but every option is open to us going forward,” Adofo-Mensah said.

Unless the Vikings make a stunning post-June 1 trade for Trey Lance, uncertainty will linger over the organization for another season. It’s also now part of the story of the Adofo-Mensah-O’Connell era that they have passed on two QBs in two years that were picked shortly after they were on the clock (Kenny Pickett, Will Levis). Will their lack of willingness to throw a dart at the most important position come back to haunt them? Or will their patience pay off?