Vikes get potential Cousins successor in QB Mond

Covered the 49ers, Raiders and Warriors for the San Jose Mercury News. She joined ESPN in 2017.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Vikings are preparing for life after Kirk Cousins.

With the 66th pick in the third round, Minnesota selected Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond, the seventh QB off the board in the 2021 NFL draft.

Mond, 21, is the all-time career leader in total offense, passing yards, passing touchdowns, completions and attempts for the Aggies. Over his four-year college career in College Station, Mond threw for 9,661 yards with 71 touchdowns and 27 interceptions. He also ran for 1,608 yards and 22 more scores. Since his freshman season in 2017, Mond improved his completion percentage each year, beginning at 51.5% and ending at 63.3%.

Cousins, the Vikings’ starting quarterback since 2018, is under contract for the next two seasons. His base salaries jump from $21 million in 2021 to $35 million in 2022, the latter of which comes with a $45 million cap hit.

The Vikings appear to have a succession plan in place in the event they choose to move on from Cousins in the future. Cousins received a two-year, $66 million extension from Minnesota in 2020, months after he led the Vikings to a playoff win in the wild-card round against New Orleans in January 2020. That playoff win was the first of Cousins’ career.

In three seasons with Minnesota, Cousins had a 25-21-1 record.

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