The Minnesota Vikings were said to be avoiding the NFL trade market in an attempt to find a replacement for injured quarterback Kirk Cousins.
That’s why we should take rumors with a grain of salt. Two days after Cousins suffered a season-ending torn Achilles, Minnesota has pulled off a trade for Arizona Cardinals quarterback Joshua Dobbs ahead of Tuesday afternoon’s NFL trade deadline.
NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero were the first to report the breaking news.
This is extremely interesting in that Dobbs has started all eight games for the Cardinals this season after he was acquired from the Cleveland Browns during the preseason. The former fourth-round pick from Tennessee performed pretty well in that role, completing 63% of his passes with eight touchdowns and five interceptions.
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Despite this, Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon announced on Monday that he has decided to bench Dobbs. Clayton Tune or former No. 1 pick Kyler Murray will start for Arizona moving forward.
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As for the Minnesota Vikings, Dobbs will act as insurance in case rookie Jaren Hall is not ready to take over QB1 duties for the 4-4 team. Minnesota found itself between a rock and a hard place ahead of Tuesday’s trade with veteran Nick Mullens on injured reserve and Sean Mannion (practice squad) as the only other option behind Hall on the depth chart.
For Minnesota, this is a clear indication that the team thinks it can contend for a playoff spot even without its franchise quarterback in street clothes for the remainder of the season. The Vikings have won four of five since starting the season with an 0-3 record. If the season were to end today, Minnesota would be playing postseason football.