We are two weeks into the 2025 season, and the Minnesota Vikings are already regretting their boldest offseason move.
Moving on from Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones has come back to bite them in the biggest way possible. J.J. McCarthy is clearly not ready to be a starting quarterback in the NFL, and Falcons fans saw that firsthand on Sunday.
For as talented as that team is, they cannot afford to throw a season away because of one player.
Fortunately for them, the Falcons have a familiar face in Kirk Cousins, who is waiting for his opportunity to be a starter, and he could immediately turn around what has been a tough season for the purple and gold.
Falcons could pull off the most ironic trade in NFL history
Cousins and the Vikings have no shortage of respect for one another other. It was a difficult decision for the front office to move on from him last year. Bringing in Cousins would give an instant boost to Kevin O'Connell's offense, and combining an efficient offense with that defense would instantly make them relevant again.
The other part of this is that J.J. McCarthy is already banged up. He will be out multiple weeks after he was ruled out for Week 3 after suffering a high-ankle sprain.
ESPN sources: Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy is expected to be sidelined two-to-four weeks with a high ankle sprain.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 15, 2025
With McCarthy out, Vikings QB Carson Wentz is now in line to start. pic.twitter.com/iZ1qvackMV
They need someone other than Carson Wentz or Desmond Ridder moving forward.
On the Falcons' side, this would be the most hilarious trade in NFL history. Not only are you shipping him to his former team, but you are sending him to a team that is trading for him because they were embarrassed by you.
Essentially, you would be able to thank Jeff Ulbrich and his defense for making this trade possible. But it would make the four-year contract Terry Fontenot gave him last offseason obsolete.
The Dirty Birds have also set themselves up pretty well when it comes to their backup quarterback. We have already seen numerous franchise quarterbacks go down with injuries in the first two weeks (namely, Joe Burrow, Brock Purdy, and J.J. McCarthy), meaning the leverage they have is increasing.
While all but Burrow's injuries aren't major, they are still wasted weeks that could be the difference between a successful and unsuccessful season. You have to imagine that the injuries won't stop there, so it is starting to become inevitable that Cousins will be traded before the trade deadline.