Somewhere in a parallel universe, the Vikings never see Mike Hughes, Lamar Jackson is their QB, the Chiefs have Paxton Lynch instead of Mahomes, Chris Jones and Tyreek Hill, their most recent Super Bowl victory is still 1970, and Cousins has a ring with San Francisco.
I'll paste from a previous post:
Sometimes its just better to be lucky than good. For example....
• In 2016, Chiefs tried to trade up to take Paxton Lynch. They were also in talks to trade up to take Laquon Treadwell. Neither worked out, so they gave up, traded down and took 5X All Pro Chris Jones. Then with two 5th rounders, they rolled the dice on a QB (Kevin Hogan) and a WR (Tyreek Hill). Still needing a QB the next year, they took Patrick Mahomes.
• The 49ers had the 2nd overall pick that same year. They traded down one spot to take megabust Solomon Thomas. They did not study Mahomes that year because, one, that was WAY too high to take him. And two, their plan was to sign Kirk Cousins during 2018 free agency and reunite him with Kyle Shanahan. Those plans were scuttled when the Patriots traded Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers in October 2017. But the one QB the 49ers did trade up to get in the 2017 draft was C.J. Beathard, whom they selected in the 3rd round. Beathard eventually left San Francisco to sign with Jacksonville and, in return, the 49ers got a compensatory 2022 7th-round pick...that they used on…Brock Purdy.
• With Cousins going to San Francisco in 2018, the Vikings turn their attention to QB in the 2018 draft where they take Lamar Jackson instead of Mike Hughes.