Vikings GM Sends Clear Message About Kirk Cousins After Drafting QB
The Minnesota Vikings have a serviceable quarterback on their roster in Kirk Cousins, but that didn’t stop the front office from selecting Kellen Mond on Day 2 of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Minnesota’s decision to select Mond in the third round turned some heads, especially since Cousins has two years left on his contract. Thankfully, Vikings general manager Rick Spielman revealed the team’s thought process when making the pick during an appearance on Mad Dog Sports Radio.
“Right now, there’s no question that Kirk Cousins is our quarterback,” Spielman told Adam Schein. “What we wanted to do just like we do with everything else, as the board continues to fall, we want to get the best players available on our board. And Kellen definitely checked the box there when we were able to get him in the third round.”
Spielman said that he called Cousins over the weekend to explain the pick and what the front office plans to do at quarterback.
“I did call Kirk the following morning and his agent, but we want to create competition right now behind Kirk. And we have two very young, talented guys, we feel, in Nate Stanley and Jake Browning, but to throw Kellen Mond in the mix, our coaches are very excited to work with him. So let’s see where it goes. Let’s see how quickly he develops. But our whole focus right now is just making sure we have enough depth and young, talented guys to develop at that position as we go into this season.”
"Right now, there's no question that Kirk Cousins is our quarterback."#Vikings GM Rick Spielman tells @AdamSchein about the decision to draft Kellen Mond & create competition behind Kirk Cousins. pic.twitter.com/m9s2aEhHJs
— Mad Dog Sports Radio (@MadDogRadio) May 4, 2021
Schein then asked Spielman what Cousins’ response was when he found out that Minnesota selected Mond. Spielman kept that information confidential, but he once again said that Cousins is his starting quarterback.
“Kirk knows he’s our quarterback. His agent knows he’s our quarterback. I just told him this is a player we want to work with, and like I said, try to create competition at the position behind you, just like we are at a lot of positions.”
It’ll be interesting to see how this situation plays out for the Vikings.
The post Vikings GM Sends Clear Message About Kirk Cousins After Drafting QB appeared first on The Spun.
