Speculated Watson trade to Vikings

Awful lot for a QB who took a team with the #4 D and arguably the best WR in the game to a wildcard round exit. 

Other then Watson having more "it factor" is he 2x 1st round picks, 2x 2nds, Barr and Mattison better then Cousins?  Hell if I was Houston, I'd take a deal like that in a heartbeat.  Flop this coming year with Garoppolo, get a high pick in 22 for a QB and put together one hell of a roster around them. 

Lolz, pass

Here's a better way to look at that trade.  Would you feel the bear or lions go screwed with that deal? 

I sure would.  I'd be happy to face Watson 2x a year with limited resources.

Yeah, I'd lean to sticking with what we have. We're not far off as we currently stand (at least IMO), but if this trade were to happen we'd have a QB with a higher cap hit (I think) and limited resources to build around him.

@"PurpleCrush" said: https://purpleptsd.com/howdeshaunwatsoncanjoinvikings/  A Massive Outgoing Haul for WatsonThis is what the trade would resemble according to King. It involves a three-way trade between the Vikings, 49ers, and Texans: “The Vikings send quarterback Kirk Cousins to San Francisco. The Niners send Garoppolo to Houston, if, of course, he’d waive his no-trade. The Texans send Watson to Minnesota. In return: the Niners send their first-round pick in 2021 (12th overall) to Houston, and they’re out. (So San Francisco would be trading Garoppolo and a one to Houston and getting Cousins with two years left on his contract.) The Vikings would send linebacker Anthony Barr and running back Alexander Mattison plus their first-round picks in 2021 (14th overall) and 2023, and second-round picks in 2022 and 2023 in exchange for Watson. Houston’s haul: Garoppolo, two ones this year, a one in 2023, and two second-round picks.”

I'd do that. We sign Wilson to replace Barr, Boone replaces Mattison and we draft another back in the middle rounds. Cap hit at QB for 2021 goes down nearly $15M (goes up big in 2022 but still less than Cousins' 22 hit), giving us the money we need to sign OL and DL help. And we still have our 1st rounder in 2022 to draft our WR3. In exchange we get a 25 year old franchise QB who would probably play another 10 years and totally change the way we play offense. I think Cousins is probably the most underrated QB in the NFL, but this is a no brainer for me.

I heard Daniel Jeremiah the other day talk about an extreme scenario where he wondered if Watson wasn't worth even FIVE 1st rounders. But that's a direct shot at the crapshoot nature of draft picks, which I totally agree with. He used Oakland as an example: Would you not trade their last 5 1st round picks for Watson? Who were they? Ruggs, Clelin Ferrell, Kolton Miller, Gareon Conley and Karl Joseph. Yeah, you would. What about the Vikings? A little harder to swallow since we just drafted a superstar, but would you trade Jefferson, Bradbury, Hughes, Treadwell and Trae Waynes for DeShaun? I think you would. 

I would do that trade if we dropped the future 2nds and instead included a 3rd and 4th this year (basically the same valuation).

It would be a move for the long-term where we'd be getting a better (and younger) QB to build around for the next decade. I guess it depends on what you think of Cousins and the status of the team...  if you think we're close to being a contender with Cousins, you probably hate that trade.  If you think we're still a year or two away, you probably are in favor of it.

I honestly think it would be a minor step back to take some giant leaps forward in 2022 and beyond.  We are probably going to need to do something with Barr anyways...  I like Mattison a lot, but this team is good at finding good backup RBs...  giving up 2 firsts, Cousins, and two mid-round picks this year is worth the upgrade considering we'd have our full draft next year and only be missing our 1st in 2023.

I just have no idea if this is even financially feasible with the cap hits these teams would take with the trades. 

@"Wetlander" said: It would be a move for the long-term where we'd be getting a better (and younger) QB to build around for the next decade. I guess it depends on what you think of Cousins and the status of the team...  if you think we're close to being a contender with Cousins, you probably hate that trade.  If you think we're still a year or two away, you probably are in favor of it.

Well....I think we're close to being a contender with Cousins if we can find a league average guard to improve his protection. I also think that if he goes to the 49ers, the 49ers get a lot better and a team we won't want to see in the playoffs. But I also think that Watson is a big upgrade in terms of age and mobility and we'd be fools for not exploring it. With Jefferson, Thielen, Dalvin and Watson, you have to think this would be an instant Super Bowl contender....and renders the protection a little bit less important. 

Well, Watson was the most sacked QB in 2018 and 2019. Third most sacked last year. Not sure that additional mobility is buying anything.

I am not the biggest fan of Cousins, but I haven’t seen a
lot of Watsons good side to say he’s in that top tier of QBs.  The few games I’ve seen he looked pretty mediocre,
but that differs from the consensus by quite a bit.

I think if you’re going to trade a top 10-15 QB in Cousins,
you should be expecting to receive at lease something in that 1st
and a day 3 pick range, and they’d extend him to get the salary reasonable.  I think if you’re trading Barr, you’d hope to
pick up at least a 3rd, but he’s coming off an injury with a massive
contract, so it’s a horrible time to trade him, but he very well could just get
cut anyway.  Mattison, while great, is
still just a backup RB.

I think the value is a little too rich for my blood here,
especially as it drags out into multiple years of draft picks.  I think if we start pruning off what we have
to give up, it’s more acceptable to me. 
I think 2 firsts, Cousins, Barr, Mattison, and a 3rd or later,
that’s more tolerable.

I think from a PR standpoint getting Watson would be a huge
win for the Vikings.  I think right now,
things are getting pretty stale.  People
are tiring of Zimmer, Spielman, and Cousins a bit.  If Zimmer, in the next year or 2, fixes our
defense to top 15 and we still fail to go deep into the playoffs (especially if
Cousins chokes late in the season), I think we could see a major housecleaning
where we start fresh after Cousins contract expires.  Watson would give us some newness to play
around with as fans and take some heat off Zimmer and Spielman.

@"BarrNone55" said: Well, Watson was the most sacked QB in 2018 and 2019. Third most sacked last year. Not sure that additional mobility is buying anything.

I don't think it's a stretch to say Cousins best fit has been in Kubes offense, Same with Cook IMO

If Watson comes to Minnesota, does watson fit the same offense or is there change necessary?

@"Hawkvike25" said: Lolz, pass

Dumbest thing ever. Peter King is high. 

@"StickyBun" said:

@"Hawkvike25" said: Lolz, pass

Dumbest thing ever. Peter King is high. 

I wonder why he dropped Barr and Mattison into this proposal? Are either of them highly esteemed elsewhere? Mattison has done OK when he played, but I don't think we're hiding a superstar behind Cook. As for Barr, losing him feels mostly like cap relief for the Vikings, but I guess there are people who still think he could become Von Miller if only he was "turned loose".

The players included make it pretty palatable. I thought they would want something like Hunter and Jefferson.

Its baseless speculation until Houston even picks up the phone for any team. We'll see if anything changes by draft-day but I personally think they are going to make Watson sit before they consider moving him. Its somewhat riskless since he's still Deshaun Watson, his contract will toll, and when they start losing games the needle is going to swing on who is to blame. 

If you were to hold a NFL dynasty draft there is 1 player that would go before Watson, Mahomes. That is all. I can nearly guarantee you that Watson's future production (barring injury) will be better than 3-4 1st round picks unless you somehow turn 2 of them into future hall of famers. Yes, he is that good. 

Kirk won't be here is Watson is. Mattison has more value with Cook here. People shit on Barr all the time although I believe he's a good player. So the net cost for MN in this proposed deal is #14, a future 1st, and two 2nds. That is a damn bargain. 

@"BarrNone55" said: Awful lot for a QB who took a team with the #4 D and arguably the best WR in the game to a wildcard round exit. 

This would be the other Texas team "Herscheling" the Vikes for a second time. 

@"HappyViking" said:

@"BarrNone55" said: Awful lot for a QB who took a team with the #4 D and arguably the best WR in the game to a wildcard round exit. 

This would be the other Texas team "Herscheling" the Vikes for a second time. 

Feels very far-fetched that anything like this trade would happen, but  I’ll play along- of course I’d do that exact deal right now. 

I like Barr more than most here and Mattison probably a little less, but both are expendable. I agree with @Jor-El it seems odd to even include them. If Houston actually wanted Mattison the Vikings would probably trade him to them straight up for a 4th right now.

As far as the picks, yeah it hurts losing them but I’d get over it. Considering we’d probably have to trade away a similar haul just to crack the top 5 and draft Justin Fields this year, I’d say getting the sure thing in Watson is a good move.

Plus, the year this trade hurts the most is in 2023 where we lose our 1st and 2nd picks, but you have 3 yrs before then to get one or both of those picks back.

I can’t figure out if this board is down on Watson or too high on Cousins but the gap between them is a lot wider in my mind than some are suggesting. Kirk is good. Watson is elite. 

@"pattersaur" said: Feels very far-fetched that anything like this trade would happen, but  I’ll play along- of course I’d do that exact deal right now. 

I like Barr more than most here and Mattison probably a little less, but both are expendable. I agree with @Jor-El it seems odd to even include them. If Houston actually wanted Mattison the Vikings would probably trade him to them straight up for a 4th right now.

As far as the picks, yeah it hurts losing them but I’d get over it. Considering we’d probably have to trade away a similar haul just to crack the top 5 and draft Justin Fields this year, I’d say getting the sure thing in Watson is a good move.

Plus, the year this trade hurts the most is in 2023 where we lose our 1st and 2nd picks, but you have 3 yrs before then to get one or both of those picks back.

I can’t figure out if this board is down on Watson or too high on Cousins but the gap between them is a lot wider in my mind than some are suggesting. Kirk is good. Watson is elite. 

I like Deshaun a lot, i'm just anti giving up a ton of early picks because our OL/DL is dogshit. This would mean we would either have to get lucky with later round OL prospects or get FA OL to sign with us in the offseason...both of those options don't happen to the Vikes very often.

At the end of the day we would have a highly paid good QB who continues to be pressured and sacked and we cant get back to the NFC Championship game. A lot of folks on here think Watson would be our savior but I dont think any QB this past season gets the Vikes more than 1 playoff win, not even Mahomes.

Wasn't there a report recently that Watson would not waive his no trade clause for a trade to Minnesota? So there's that.