Browns Suddenly Have Perfect Trade Opportunity After Significant Preseason Injury
By Cem Yolbulan
One of the most notable and devastating injury updates over the last week came from Minnesota. It was announced that the Vikings' prized rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy would miss the entire season, disappointing fans in a massive way.
The Vikings already had one of the more questionable QB depths in the NFL even before the injury. Now, they are left with a presumptive rotation of Sam Darnold, Nick Mullens, and Jaren Hall for the season.
Darnold is almost guaranteed to start with Mullens likely being the primary backup. Neither veteran instills a ton of confidence in the fanbase as both have struggled in their recent stints as the starting quarterbacks. Mullens has more interceptions than touchdowns in his Vikings career and Darnold started in a total of seven games over the last two years.
This situation presents an excellent opportunity for the Cleveland Browns who arguably have the deepest and most talented quarterback crop of any team in the league. After struggling at backup QB last year, the Browns took the position very seriously, adding Jameis Winston and Tyler Huntley in the offseason.
Deshaun Watson and Winston are locked in as the QB1 and QB2. This means that Huntley and Dorian Thompson-Robinson's futures with the team are uncertain. Both players would have a much larger role in Minnesota and could even have a chance to start at some point in the season.
Huntley and DTR are the exact kind of players the Vikings need to target. They can be caretakers for a season, then become a backup to McCarthy when he eventually comes back and takes over as the starter.
After struggling in his starts as a rookie, Thompson-Robinson has shown a huge improvement this offseason. Huntley has similarly proven himself as a competent backup during his Baltimore tenure. As great as it is for the Browns to have such excellent depth at quarterback, getting something in return in a potential trade with the Vikings makes a ton of sense.
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