EAGAN, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings on Monday acquired quarterback Nick Mullens from the Las Vegas Raiders for a 2024 conditional draft pick, giving them an additional option behind starter Kirk Cousins for his acting backups in an uneven summer.
Mullens will get the chance to oust Sean Mannion and Kellen Mond, who were fighting for the job. Neither has excelled in training camp or in two preseason games, where the two have split reps evenly. Coach Kevin O’Connell declined to assist either of them after Saturday night’s 17-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, in which they combined 20 of 35 passes for 147 yards, with Moon throwing two interceptions.
“Ultimately you would have liked to come out of the night and feel like shooting, they both moved the team and scored a lot of points and we have one hell of a tough discussion and conversation ahead of us as a staff and as an organization. ‘ O’Connell said Saturday night. “Even though we didn’t do that, I still think there were some really educational moments and then some real moments where we’re going to be able to evaluate and really see where we’re at at that position, as we restack everything Go into this week to see how we need to allow these guys to compete.
“Because as we discussed before, I think the clock is ticking. While I feel like our 9/11 starters are in a great place, and that’s really our focus, there are a lot of jobs we still have that allow ourselves to play off of so we can relate to the overall depth of our team and we will certainly allow that in practice this week.
Mullens started in 16 games for the San Francisco 49ers from 2018-2020, playing on an offense similar to what O’Connell is installing with the Vikings. He added a start for the Cleveland Browns last season, but this summer he was behind Derek Carr and Jarrett Stidham on the Raiders’ depth chart.
The Vikings have overhauled their football operations this offseason, but new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah decided to bring back all three of their 2021 quarterbacks for training camp. Cousins signed a contract extension and Mannion signed a one-year contract. A third-round pick in the 2021 draft, Moon didn’t seem ready to take over as the No. 2 quarterback this summer.