The Minnesota Vikings hoped Jaren Hall would be the answer to their quarterback woes, but their faith was misplaced.
Minnesota is still desperately looking for answers at the position, with the playoffs now looking iffy after falling to the Green Bay Packers by 23 points at home on New Year’s Eve in what was essentially a must-win game. The Vikings have lost five of their last six games with the starting trio of Josh Dobbs, Nick Mullens, and Jaren Hall, leaving Kirk Cousins as the only viable option in free agency.
Cousins, on the other hand, will be 36 years old next season and will be looking for a multiyear contract come March. Even at a discount, a new contract for him will cost the Vikings a significant sum of money. According to Tankathon, if the season ended today, Minnesota would pick No. 12 in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, which is almost certainly not early enough to select any of the top three QB prospects — Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, and Jayden Daniels — who could potentially come off the board in the top three spots.
To acquire one of those players, the Vikings will have to part with a number of valuable assets, including the No. 12 overall pick. However, if the Chicago Bears decide to use the No. 1 overall pick to draft their next quarterback, that draft pick could be enough to convince them to part ways with quarterback Justin Fields.
Fields struggled to begin his third season after entering 2023 with legitimate MVP hype. He hit rock bottom when he dislocated his thumb against the Vikings in Week 6, forcing him to miss several games
Fields’ playmaking returned with him when he returned to the field on November 19. Chicago is 4-2 during that time period and could be 6-0 if not for two blown fourth-quarter leads on the road against playoff teams in the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns, which were as much or more about the Bears’ defense as anything Fields did or didn’t do.
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