I'm a little surprised they didn't want to receive a draft pick vs an expiring contract
I think them advancing as far as they can this season where things are going their way is more important than a 3rd or 4th round pick.
And yes they may get a comp pick anyway if he leaves
I'm not able to be as unbiased as you, I wish I could but I don't have faith in Cousins or the Vikings in the Playoffs.
Imagine they go 14-3 or something close, No 2 Seed, I won't slide them ahead of Philly but they could seize the 1-seed if Philly stumbles a couple weeks
Now you send Dallas let's say to Tampa assuming the Bucs can actually make it, then maybe Seattle taking the West, they might host a game as well, if not them let's say SF goes on a tear down the strength and you know where I'm going with all this.
Vikes could be hosting the Bucs for their Division round and if not them, how about San Fran? I see them as a potential 1 and done after all this "You like that" stuff.
There's a much a larger discussion I'd like to have with the Shark Pool about RBs specifically and the way they are used and that terrible 2nd contract that seems to blow up in teams faces after they ink an extension to the elite RBs. Totally separate issue but I feel it's a no win situation for the RBs right now, almost a "Dead End" position. Mattison will not get the chance to post up some decent numbers his last remaining year on his rookie deal. He might get.a little money because there is a market for him but I doubt he gets inked to anything close to say 4 yr/$20M+, that's not a huge contract for vets but a lot of teams would prefer a rookie RB in the 4th rd on a 4 yr rookie deal and work them in slowly at RB2/3 and then maybe in Year 2 you exploit them more with a lot more touches knowing you will never likely extend that running back
It's just so irritating IMO and I don't see a lot of media people discussing this much. The RB position has almost become an obstacle for some teams the way they have their personnel designed and depth charts. I think some teams would throw every down if they could. When RBs have single digit totals on rushing attempts and still lead the team, maybe that's the game plan anyways.
-Let me land this another way, outstanding job by both the Jets to go get Robinson while they were in need and not just shrug off the season, and I think Miami filled a major gap in their RB corp with Wilson coming on board and I agree with you, Wilson is not a FF darling, he just is really good for the Miami Dolphins right now, his pass blocking on Sunday to allow Tua all that time to deliver perfect throws, doesn't come out in the stats but you can see it on film.
It was definitely the right move for Minnesota to keep him in case Cook is unavailable for any length of time. It's obvious now as we drift further away from the deadline and maybe this right here is why teams tend to pass on a lot of trades they could make.
Why I have to make such lengthy posts to answer and say you were correct in siding with the Vikings, in hindsight I can see you are definitely right, it was a good move on their part to stay with what they have this season.