Two years ago the Minnesota Vikings embarked on a bold, unusual plan to build a championship contender.
They had a bunch of pieces already in place: A creative offensive mind in head coach Kevin O'Connell, an all-world receiver in Justin Jefferson, and plenty of quality veterans on both sides of the ball.
They decided to part ways with quarterback Kirk Cousins, which was not the surprising part. Coming off a season-ending Achilles injury at 35, and after six years in which he had won exactly one playoff game, Cousins had reached a natural endpoint in Minnesota.