The Minnesota Vikings host the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football tonight, with Carson Wentz starting at quarterback in place of Kyler Murray, who’s out with a Grade 2 hamstring strain.

Meanwhile, the NFL trade deadline hits Tuesday at 3 p.m. CT, which is the last opportunity for teams to significantly improve their rosters before the stretch run and into the playoffs. That’s important for the Vikings, because despite their 6-1 record, they have a lot that needs fixing, especially on offense.

But no need is more glaring than starting quarterback, where the Minnesota Vikings have been seriously lacking since the moment Sam Darnold walked out the door for Seattle. And now, especially with Kyler Murray hurt, the league’s best defense and a frustrated Justin Jefferson are praying for a QB upgrade.

Unfortunately, after some reports leaked out over the past couple weeks that the Vikings were in the market for a QB, all has gone quiet on that end, with just over 24 hours remaining until the deadline hits.

Minnesota Vikings QB trade targets are staying put

In fact, quiet isn’t even a strong enough word. Ask any insider Monday morning and you’ll find the same answer. The Vikings aren’t shopping for a quarterback right now, and even if they were, nobody is open to trading theirs anymore.

The three names tied to Minnesota were Daniel Jones, Kirk Cousins and Geno Smith. Over the past 24 hours, the teams holding all three have made it clear they aren’t moving them.

Jones came off the board first. Tom Pelissero (The Ringer, Netflix) reported Sunday night that the Colts told Jones on Saturday they weren’t trading him, which we covered last night. He doubled down again Monday morning on , where he said the same thing on Kirk Cousins + Raiders and Geno Smith + Jets.

“I think that the key question, if you’re the Vikings, and they’ve had discussions internally, I believe they’ve at least kind of like felt out what the possibilities might be, but the biggest question is, are any of these guys out there a clear upgrade over Carson Wentz that we want to go and shell out something significant to go get him?”

“Cross off Daniel Jones because he’s not getting traded. Cross off Justin Herbert because at the deadline right now, there’s just way too many moving parts. I don’t foresee that being a possibility. … I can think of one guy that’s a possibility who they know well, but there’s not that many options of quarterbacks that are a clear upgrade over what they have in the building now.”

James Palmer (NFL on Prime) added that several teams did show some interest in Jones before Indianapolis shut it down. In Las Vegas, Adam Schefter (ESPN) reported Sunday morning that the Raiders hadn’t received any trade inquiries on Cousins and aren’t interested in dealing him now either.

Tonight will be Wentz’s second start of 2026. He relieved Murray in Week 1, started Week 2 at Chicago and is 23-of-39 for 276 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions this season.

All three of the teams mentioned above lost this week, sinking them into what should be sell mode. Instead, they’ve all become bullish on quarterbacks that are either aging, running out of term on their contract or just not playing well.

Vikings + Kirk Cousins reunion reportedly not happening

The most obvious fit in Minnesota is Kirk Cousins, especially after Vegas lost at San Francisco Sunday and fell to 4-5. Cousins threw three interceptions. On the season, though, he is 202-of-315 for 2,340 yards with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions, production that Justin Jefferson and Vikings fans would give away parts of their bodies for.

Additionally, the Raiders have No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza waiting in the wings. With that in mind, landing Kirko Chainz back in Minnesota should be relatively easy, right?

Wrong, apparently. On top of the reports above, Jori Epstein (Yahoo Sports) wrote Sunday night that it seems “more likely than not that Cousins will stay put in Vegas,” and that the Raiders “will not simply give away Cousins.”

Locally, Ben Goessling (Minnesota Star Tribune) wrote Sunday that a Cousins trade back to Minnesota “seems unlikely.” On Monday morning, Dan Graziano (ESPN) reported that he doesn’t “buy all the talk” about the Vikings searching for a QB trade.

“Minnesota Vikings: I don’t buy all the talk about them looking at quarterbacks unless Carson Wentz gets hurt in the Monday night game against Buffalo. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they added to one or both of their lines.”

This could go a couple different ways. One possibility is that the Minnesota Vikings are hiding their real QB plans at the trade deadline. If that is the case, then they will make a move Tuesday and all of these reports will be revealed as smokescreens.

The other possibility is that they really aren’t going for a quarterback before the trade deadline. And given what we have seen so far this season from the position, that would be a grave mistake.

GM Nolan Teasley could improve the roster elsewhere, at RB, OL, DL and secondary… but none of those acquisitions would fix the glaring problem they have had at QB all season.