**I've said it often enough over the years regarding the Vikings, but it's never been meant as a compliment. But when I read \[Friday\] morning on [NFL.com](https://www.nfl.com/news/colts-anthony-richardson-mutually-agree-to-seek-trade) that the Colts are considering parting ways with Anthony Richardson and the Vikings are possibly interested, well, let's just say I had to wait a couple hours to take my blood pressure.**
**I was never impressed with how high the Colts drafted him in the first place, because he had… what, 13 starts in college (Florida)? And did they even advance that high in the standings that season? So what if he has a "cannon of an arm," because rather than the accuracy of a sniper rifle he seems to have been more of a blunderbuss. And an antique one at that based on his injury history.**
**If the Vikings were indeed interested in him as a reclamation project it would be mildly amusing considering McCarthy's own durability issues the past two years. Fine if they're competing in the Madden NFL Bowl, where the greatest injury concern is a blister on their thumbs and spilling a Big Gulp on the keyboard.**
**Plus, Indy is unlikely to flat out release Richardson and would try to recoup some of that misspent draft capital. And the past few years the Vikings have had mostly cobwebs in their cupboard shouldn't waste even a compensatory third-round pick on a trade. Especially for a player that has demonstrated so little return for being the No. 4 pick.**
**The smartest move the Vikings could make to fill out their quarterbacks room is to bring back a known quantity. And all signs point to Kirk Cousins being outright released by the Falcons, which means the Vikings wouldn't need to mortgage their draft picks. And Kirk has had a year and a half to adjust his mindset to being a mentor at this stage of his career. And the fact that he restructured his deal with the Falcons demonstrates that he may be willing to settle for less salary, so the Vikings could incentivize him and/or add a signing bonus up front to ease the salary cap hit.**
**Kirk is probably the best option if the Vikings want to reset McCarthy's trajectory. He needs both legitimate competition as well as a veteran quarterback to shepherd his development. And Kirk knows K.O.'s mindset and methodology, as well as being quite familiar with numerous players on the team.**
**The first reaction I had to the idea of the Vikings trading for Richardson was to look at the calendar and wonder if I'd jumped back in time a year. That's because the very idea sounded too much like a deal that Kwesi would have orchestrated. And there's a good reason why the Wilfs parted ways with him, since his draft picks, free-agent signings and trade acumen were not yielding a good enough return on the investment.**
**So please Mr. Brz (I won't spell his name for fear of butchering it), don't take the blue pill and wake back up in the Matrix. Your job is to restructure contracts, part ways with expensive contracts judiciously, and above all preserve the precious few draft picks we have. Pass on Richardson, Willis, Tua and Kyler. We can't afford to experiment this year.**
**— David A. (from The North Shore but stuck in the South)**
**I would like to see the Vikings trade a late-round pick for Anthony Richardson. Let him and J.J. McCarthy battle it out. Let's find out if either one of them can be the QB of the future. Why would we want to get a stop-gap vet for a year and not find out anything about where we are at with J.J. The 2027 draft is strong, and we can go into next year knowing where we're at. The team is lacking depth at numerous positions from poor drafting and is a year away. Thoughts?**
I always enjoy receiving emails of contrasting opinions from Vikings fans who want the team to do as well as possible but have different visions for what is the best way to make that happen.
David didn't like seeing a report that ever-so-briefly mentioned the Vikings being a potential landing spot for Richardson, who is going to be on the trade market after a discussion with the Colts. Rick, however, is willing to add the No. 4 overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Richardson's career trajectory isn't what he had hoped for. He's 8-7 in 15 career starts but barely played in 2025 and suffered an unfortunate eye injury during warm-ups, making him unavailable once Daniel Jones was lost for the season.
Richardson is still only 23 years old, so he still has time for things to go better in games. He seemed to vault up the draft board after his combine workout before Indianapolis tabbed him in Head Coach Shane Steichen's first season with the Colts.
O'Connell was mic'd up and offered words of encouragement to Richardson during the 2024 season when Indy opted to start Joe Flacco on _Sunday Night Football_.
Injuries have disrupted McCarthy's first two seasons, with the QB missing his rookie regular season because of a torn meniscus suffered in the preseason opener. He also dealt with a high-ankle sprain, concussion and hand injury in 2025. There have been high points and low points over the course of his first 10 starts.