As of lately, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding current Ravens quarterback, Lamar Jackson, and the Minnesota Vikings. There is a lot of skepticism whether or not the front office will pull the trigger on a move for Jackson, and as the days go by, that only continues to ramp up.
The past few days, a number of reports have come of hinting towards some belief around the league that the front office does intend to pursue Jackson. Just the other day, Vikings insider Darren Wolfson tweeted that a ‘semi-reliable’ source stating that the Vikings are looking into creating cap space for a future move. Keep in mind though, in the same tweet he addressed the interest in Jackson rumors by saying “have not heard real”.
Despite this, many fans including myself are trying to weigh the pros and cons of having Jackson as the team’s quarterback for the future. On one hand you get a guy that is just a few years removed from his MVP campaign, and on the other you are getting a guy that has suffered 2 season ending injuries in back to back seasons. With that being said, today I am going to highlight why a move for Jackson would, and wouldn’t make sense.
WHY IT WILL: KIRK COUSINS
Kirk Cousins is a great quarterback that has been playing out of his mind lately. Coming off of arguably the best season of his career, why would the Vikings look to move on from him? Well one key factor is his age. Cousins is set to turn 35 prior to next season, while Jackson is going to be nine years younger. With many rumors pointing towards the Vikings looking to draft Cousins’s successor in the draft, the team could opt to go after already proven talent in Jackson. Especially with superstar receiver Justin Jefferson being 23, getting him a franchise quarterback for years to come should be this, or next offseason’s top priority.
WHY IT WON’T: KIRK COUSINS
Yes, you may be wondering how on earth can Kirk be a reason for, and for why the Vikings won’t go after Jackson? Well as I highlighted in my first two sentences in the previous paragraph, Cousins is playing out of his mind, and coming off of arguably his best season as a quarterback. So why would the Vikings move on from him? This offense is built around his skillset, and is led by his once quarterbacks coach, Kevin O’Connell. So the team giving up 2 first round picks, and likely $40+ million to replace a guy that just led the team to the playoffs doesn’t make much sense.
WHY IT WILL: JOSH OLIVER
During the legal tampering period, the Vikings picked up a guy who is arguably the best blocking tight-end in the league, and former Raven, Josh Oliver. The familiarity between the two, along with the blocking of Oliver could be a move towards introducing a running quarterback into the offense. While this could be a big reach, I would be lying if I were to say signing a blocking tight-end in a pass first offense wasn’t a tad bit surprising.
WHY IT WON’T: CAP SPACE
To nobody’s surprise, the Vikings for yet another off-season are battling against the cap, and a move for Jackson wouldn’t make that battle any easier. Per many reports, Jackson could be looking for around 40-50+ million per year, which would be a giant dent into a cap that still has yet to extend guys such as Justin Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson, and Christian Darrisaw to long term deals. While it’s not to say Jackson isn’t worth that money, as many will argue whether he is or not, it’s to say that there are many cheaper options available that would be a better fit on the team.
WHY IT WILL: FORMER UNANIMOUS MVP
Despite the fact that the NFL is a “what have you done for me lately” league, the fact that Jackson is a former MVP (unanimous nonetheless) is a huge positive when it comes to considering if the team should acquire him or not. Being only a few years since he won the award, Jackson hasn’t shown any signs that he’s cooling down. Sure his stats haven’t matched that season, but are you really going to knock him for not throwing for 36 touchdowns every year? I get the “what have you done for me lately” saying, and I definitely agree with it, but when you talk about a guy who has missed the last stretch of games in back to back seasons, I think there is a bit of an exception there.
WHY IT WON’T: DRAFT PICKS
If the front office were to go ahead and make a move for Jackson, they would lose out on 2 first round picks. While the price of two first round picks for your franchise quarterback is cheap, the problem is the Vikings have plenty of other holes in the roster that need to be filled that can’t be easily filled in free agency with the potential cap hit of Jackson. And with a team that is built to win now, you need all the extra help you can get. That being said, those two firsts would help in a big way to help the super bowl push, as well as build for the future.
As the rumors continue to circulate by the day, there are plenty of reasons for, and against trading for Lamar Jackson which are not limited to what I highlighted in this article. I for one am on the fence about the potential move, and I know many fans share the same opinion. But as we all know, time will tell if it will happen or not, and all we can really do now is just wait.
