The Minnesota Vikings plan to add a young quarterback of the future to their roster, after Kirk Cousins departed in free agency. By all appearances, they’d prefer to find that QB in the 2024 NFL Draft, rather than pursuing a refurbished 1st round pick, like Justin Fields, or other floundering developmental options. Yes, they signed Sam Darnold, they see him as nothing more than a high-end $10 million bridge to the next big thing.
But that doesn’t mean the aforementioned former Chicago Bear (now Pittsburgh Steeler) wasn’t interested in playing for the Vikings. Inner-division trades are rare, but Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has executed them in the past. He’s pulled off two pretty big trades with the Detroit Lions, the first landed TJ Hockenson. The second allowed those same kitties to jump up and draft WR Jameson Williams a couple years ago.
Justin Fields had interest in playing for Minnesota Vikings
In the end, the Vikings had their mind set on going another direction. Nonetheless, the 25-year-old quarterback (according to ESPN) had Minnesota on his short list of four preferred trade destinations, which also included Pittsburgh, Las Vegas and Atlanta.
Of course. It all makes sense now. Who wouldn’t want to team up with Kevin O’Connell, Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson? It sounds like a dream landing spot for any quarterback.
Yet, the Bears may have been hesitant to send their starting quarterback of the past two seasons to their NFC North division rivals. Not to mention, Fields also had an interest in joining the Steelers from the very start, thanks to “thinking highly” of former Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin, his new coach in Pittsburgh.
