VikingsTerritory’s<\/i> Purple Rumor Mill<\/em> is a two-day chronicle each week. All the week’s rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for review. Today is the November 5th edition. <\/p>\n Remember — rumors are rumors<\/em>. What you read on weekends in these pieces is what the world is talking about pertaining to the Vikings, not necessarily items that will come to fruition. <\/p>\n If the Vikings had traded 2nd- and 3rd-Round picks for Hockenson — and that’s it — yes, this would be true and borderline criminal.<\/p>\n However, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah received two 4th-Rounders back, too, with one as conditional. Effectively, Minnesota traded down two rounds in 2023 and one round in 2024 to grab a Top 10 NFL tight end.<\/p>\n Now, if Kevin O’Connell neglects Hockenson — like the old regime did Chris Herndon — indeed, the deal will look dumb a year from now. But that is severely unlikely to occur. <\/p>\n This was a marvelous deal for the Vikings, and even Lions-themed voices lambasted Detroit for selling Hockenson<\/a>. <\/p>\n Sidney Jones is a free agent, indeed clearing waivers. And, yes, Minnesota should sign the man for depth. If Patrick Peterson or Cameron Dantzler get injured — that will probably happen at some point — Ed Donatell will turn to Andrew Booth, Akayleb Evans, or Kris Boyd and hope for the best.<\/p>\n That doesn’t sound like a sound strategy for the NFC’s No. 2 seed, so the franchise should add an extra CB to hedge the bet. <\/p>\n This is Jones’ Pro Football Focus<\/a><\/em> resume:<\/p>\n The Vikings 6-1 start — with a side dish of the Hockenson deal — is a signal the team intends to start Cousins in 2023.<\/p>\n Plus, Cousins is under contract next year, and it isn’t an option to get rid of him without oodles of dead cap money. You should want<\/em> Cousins back next year and hope<\/em> the team doesn’t feel otherwise. <\/p>\n The only thing(s) that would change the narrative right now is a sudden collapse from the 6-1 record, emulating 2016. Or, if the team got waxed in its first playoff game, like 51-3 or something, then questioning Cousins’ 2023 fate is fair game.<\/p>\n For now, Cousins is the QB1 of a 6-1 football team, and the $35 million pricetag isn’t crazy expensive compared to other NFL quarterbacks. <\/p>\n Dustin Baker<\/em><\/a> is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, <\/em>VikesNow<\/em><\/a>. He <\/em>hosts a podcast<\/em><\/a> with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with <\/em>Raun Sawh<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>Sally from Minneapolis<\/em><\/a>. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).<\/em><\/p>\n The post Purple Rumor Mill: The Hockenson Deal, Sidney Jones, Cousins in 2023<\/a> appeared first on Vikings Territory<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vikings Rumor Mill, November 5th VikingsTerritory’s Purple Rumor Mill is a two-day chronicle each week. All the week’s rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for review. Today is the November 5th edition. Remember — rumors are rumors. What you read on weekends in these pieces is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/USATSI_18992919-1180x1180-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8106"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8107,"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8106\/revisions\/8107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Rumor:<\/mark> The Vikings gave up a 2nd- and 3rd-Rounder for a non-premium position. <\/h2>\n
![\"PurplePTSD:](\"https:\/\/vikingsterritory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/USATSI_18992919-1180x1180.jpg\")
Rumor:<\/mark> Sidney Jones was released by SEA, cleared waivers, and can sign with anybody — including the Vikings. <\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/vikingsterritory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/jonessidsea-1180x787.jpg\")
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Vikings Rumor Mill<\/strong> (cont.)<\/h3>\n
Rumor:<\/mark> The Hockenson trade signals that the Vikings will roll with Kirk Cousins again in 2023.<\/h2>\n
![\"Per](\"https:\/\/vikingsterritory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/USATSI_19245892_168394844_lowres-1024x683.jpg\")
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