Vikings GM denies team drafted QB to put pressure on Kirk Cousins

With quarterback Kirk Cousins in the final year of his contract and no signs of progress on an extension, some wondered what the Minnesota Vikings drafting BYU QB Jaren Hall means for Cousins’ future.

If you ask Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, he’ll tell you not to read too much into Hall’s selection because not even he is thinking about anything past the 2023 season.

"You can have a long-term plan in terms of understanding how important it is and what you need to do in that room,” Adofo-Mensah told reporters following the draft. “But for me to tell you that this person will specifically be in a certain performance bucket at a certain place, I can't do that. But we know that we added a really talented player that we think has tremendous upside in this league."

Hall’s selection turned a few heads because at 25, he’s a bit older than most rookies and it’s unlikely Minnesota plans to keep him on the bench for two to three years. And with Cousins in a contract year, it’s easy to connect a few dots.

However, Adofo-Mensah maintained that drafting Hall was not a backhanded way of trying to turn up the heat on Cousins in a contract year.

"Kirk doesn't need to show anything to me," he said. "Last year, we won 13 games. I don't know what he would need to prove to me or anybody else."