Report: DeShaun Watson would not waive no-trade clause for Vikings

The fever dreams of a scenario where Kirk Cousins is not the quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings in 2021 are starting to get hot and heavy. The other part of that fever dream, at least for some, involves Houston Texans’ star quarterback DeShaun Watson coming to Minnesota for a bunch of draft picks.

If this news is any indication, it doesn’t sound like either of those things are happening.

Darren Wolfson of KSTP has confirmed that there are actual NFL executives out there that believe that Cousins is, in fact, going to end up in San Francisco somehow.

<Stephen A. Smith> HOWEVAH. . .</Stephen A. Smith>

Wolfson then goes on to say that he believes that Cousins will be the Vikings’ quarterback this coming season.

He also points out that Watson has a full no-trade clause in his contract and, apparently, would not be willing to waive it to facilitate a trade to Minnesota. And, honestly, given the offensive scheme that the Vikings run, that makes a lot of sense. As we’ve seen, even with dynamic wide receiver pairings (Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs and now Thielen and Justin Jefferson), the Vikings are still one of the most run-heavy offenses in the NFL, and Watson not wanting to come here makes sense.

Given this data, the Cousins trade rumors at this point are nothing more than hot air. There’s no reason for the Vikings to trade Cousins unless they’re getting a definitive upgrade on the other side. . .and if Watson isn’t coming to Minnesota, then who are they going to get that’s definitely an upgrade?

Nobody, that’s who.

I’m sure that the Cousins trade rumors will continue as the Cousins haters try to will such a thing into existence. But, as things stand right now, the odds of it happening don’t appear to be very good, and the odds of DeShaun Watson being in purple anytime soon are apparently even worse than that.