NEWSLETTER
Welp, it doesn’t look like the Kellen Mond experience is working out in Minnesota.
The Vikings are trading a conditional seventh-round pick to the Raiders for quarterback Nick Mullens, reports NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero. As for the conditions of the deal, NFL Network teammate Ian Rapoport reports Mullens has to be active for one game in 2022 in order for the seventh-rounder to vest to the Raiders.
In other words, if Mullens can’t beat out Mond or Sean Mannion, then the Vikings get to keep their pick. But after another weekend of lowlights for Mond (which were brought up in Sunday’s Bears Bullets), I think that pick is Vegas-bound.
Mond was a popular prospect among draft hipsters in 2021, as someone who had the tools to be an alternative to choosing one of the QBs who went in the first round. The Bears and Mond were totally smitten with each other during the pre-draft process. And I thought it was cool that Mond scripted his own pro day to show off his skills. It’s just that his skills have yet to translate to NFL success. Perhaps the writing was on the wall last January when then-Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer refused to start in a meaningless Week 18 game. When asked why he didn’t want to see Mond in action in a regular-season game where a young, developing player could get some live reps, Zimmer’s response was: “I see him every day.”
Ouch.
The Vikings had Mond in a low-pressure situation with no expectations. And had he been given an extended look with the first team, he’d have been throwing to Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson (when he wasn’t handing it off to Dalvin Cook). It was as favorable as a rookie QB situation could get. And Mond just didn’t have it — to the point where he looks to be on the outside looking in as a second-year quarterback. What a drastic fall.
Mond was a third-round pick in 2021 who one analyst had ranked above Justin Fields and Trey Lance in their QB rankings. Fields and Lance will be squaring off at Soldier Field in a few weeks. As for Mond, his future is very much up-in-the-air.
