The Facts: Cousins is in the final year of his contract with the Vikings and the team’s plans for the position after Cousins were part of the discussion at a press conference on Thursday. GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said that he doesn’t think there’s “one right answer” to handling a change at the quarterback position, but admitted that you would “ideally” have a year with the next quarterback in the building before he took over as the starter. HC Kevin O’Connell used similar language in his answer before noting that the team has to have firm conviction about someone being the right fit before putting anything like that in motion. “Ideally you would like to have that person in that role developing behind a great player like Kirk, but I don’t think you ever sacrifice it being the right player,” O’Connell said.

Diehards Line: If the Vikings do make such an addition, it would likely come in the draft later this month. Adofo-Mensah didn’t commit to any course of action, however. “Quarterback is the most important position in our sport,” Adofo-Mensah said. “Ultimately, Kevin and I — these aren’t things you just kind of decide in the moment. You have to have plans, you have to have strategies, you have to have different ways of getting to that answer. We’ve had these conversations, they’re ongoing. There’s lots of different avenues in terms of addressing that position. I wouldn’t necessarily box us in to just one. We do know it’s the most important position in this sport and we’ll treat it with that kind of importance. ...” Passing on quarterbacks in the draft without extending Cousins would set the Vikings up for an interesting offseason in 2024.