Kirk Cousins is going to be the starter Fran Tarkenton Jersey , but there’s a lot going on behind him.bably don’t know who Kyle Sloter is, which makes sense considering he’s only been active for a handful of games and has never seen NFL action. But the Vikings have kept him around for a reason, and last season they kept him on the 53-man roster even though Trevor Siemian was locked in as the backup quarterback. This offseason, the Vikings lost Siemian to the Jets but signed veteran Sean Mannion to replace him. Then they scooped up former Washington star Jake Browning, who went undrafted after a remarkable collegiate career. So what is the plan?Kyle Sloter (aka Welcome to the Sloterhouse, Sloterhouse-five, etc)Sloter started his college career at Southern Mississippi and didn’t get a chance to start, so he transferred to Northern Colorado and earned the starting job during his senior season in 2016. In his final college game, he was 26-of-42 for 438 yards and six touchdowns. That game was against Cal Poly, so you decide if it’s impressive or not. Anyways, he then went undrafted and was signed by the Broncos. After a pretty good preseason Brett Favre Jersey , Denver cut him but tried to keep him around on the practice squad. The Vikings ended up signing him to their practice squad, and he was promoted to the active roster later in the season. The Vikings kept him around during the 2018 offseason and despite consistently outperforming Siemian in the preseason, he still ended up third on the depth chart. And yet...the Vikings easily could’ve cut him and elected to keep only two quarterbacks on the active roster, something a lot of teams do unless your third quarterback is Taysom Hill. The way I see it, you don’t hold a roster spot for a player who you know isn’t gonna play unless you have some plan for him.It looked like the plan was starting to reveal itself when Siemian left for New York, ostensibly paving the way for Sloter to take over as Kirk Cousins’ backup. But then the Vikings signed Mannion, who’s spent a few years with the Rams and doesn’t project to be a starting-caliber QB. That brings us to...Sean MannionThis is where I start to get confused. It’s possible Mannion was brought in to compete with Sloter during training camp and not to actually make the final 53. For some background: Mannion, 27, was a third-round pick by the Rams back in 2015. Then they picked Jared Goff a year later, and it was clear Mannion had no path to the starting role. After the Rams got rid of Case Keenum (lol), Mannion took over as the backup.Maybe Rick Spielman thinks signing away Rams backup quarterbacks for cheap is a sustainable strategy for finding QBs. I dunno, it worked once in the past. I’m assuming Spielman or Mike Zimmer or someone sees something in Mannion that they like Adam Thielen Jersey , but it would be pretty surprising to see him surpass Sloter on the depth chart, considering the time and money the Vikings have invested in him. Anyways, I was already confused and then...Jake BrowningHey look, an undrafted free agent QB! But this isn’t just some random guy. Browning was one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in college football by the time he graduated, and he holds pretty much every Washington passing record. He also led the Huskies to a couple Pac-12 titles. He was really good in 2016 and won the Pac-12 offensive player of the year, but struggled with inconsistency in his final two collegiate seasons and isn’t good under pressure.This is probably one of those “look we signed an undrafted free agent you know” kind of things, but it’s worth keeping an eye on, especially when you consider that Sloter started his career as an undrafted free agent.What is the point of all this?Fair question. We know Kirk Cousins is going to be the Vikings’ starter this season and next, and no one is saying any of these guys should be starting for any NFL team. But there are two things to think about here: 1) you never know when a guy is gonna go down with an injury, and every team needs a quality backup to right the ship if this happens and 2) Cousins is under contract for two more seasons, but we don’t know what the plan is beyond that. If Cousins isn’t going to stick around after that, the Vikings need to start thinking about the future at his position. These guys might have something to do with that. EAGAN Stefon Diggs Jersey , Minn. 鈥?Xavier Rhodes was trailing Green Bay’s Davante Adams in coverage along the sideline late in the fourth quarter last week. Aaron Rodgers let the ball fly and Minnesota’s best cornerback raced to catch up.Rhodes arrived in time to make the tackle after a 36-yard gain by the Packers, but in the process of the acceleration he hurt his hamstring. As soon as he stood up, he grabbed his right leg and fell back to the turf. The immediate fear was a multiple-week absence for one of the most valuable players the Vikings have.More Vikings coverageTop Tweets: Minnesota teams send best wishes to GophersVikings sign veteran guard KlineVikings agree to terms with kicker Dan BaileyVikings add RB depth, re-sign Ameer AbdullahFormer Vikings guard Easton agrees to four-year deal with SaintsBut after testing and treatment, the diagnosis was a “very, very mild” injury, according to coach Mike Zimmer. He said on Wednesday, before Rhodes was held out of practice, that “there’s a good chance” the 2017 All-Pro pick will be able to play on Sunday at New England.With Tom Brady and that potent Patriots offense up next, the timing could not be better for Rhodes to heal quickly. With first-round draft pick Mike Hughes out for the season because of a torn ACL in his left knee, the depth behind Rhodes and Trae Waynes has thinned. Mackensie Alexander is manning the slot on most of the nickel plays, and rookie Holton Hill has been sent in several times to play on the outside as a fill-in when someone’s hurt.The latest opportunity came against the Packers Harrison Smith Jersey , with the Vikings leading 24-14 when that reception by Adams set up the visiting team for a field goal.“My confidence has always been like a thing for me. You can’t go out on the field if you don’t believe in yourself. It starts there,” Hill said. “Obviously it’s something I’m not used to, but as a player, I’m going to have to play my role. There’s no excuses. I’m about to get in and help the defense out.”Rhodes and Waynes have each missed one full game, and they’ve also both been forced out of several contests because of injuries. The undrafted Hill was a priority free agent out of Texas for the Vikings right after the draft. Grasping Zimmer’s system took some time in training camp and beyond, but he has come a long way and been asked to play more meaningful snaps than anyone would have anticipated.“Now they give us a call, and I just line up, and it’s like natural,” Hill said.Though no soft-tissue injuries are the same, the Vikings have been especially conservative about handling them lately. Running back Dalvin Cook missed five games with hamstring trouble, and linebacker Anthony Barr was sidelined for three games with the same injury. So it stands to reason Rhodes won’t necessarily be cleared for action against Brady, who with two touchdown passes would move ahead of Peyton Manning Dru Samia Minnesota Vikings Jerseys , who had 579, for first place on the NFL’s all-time list, including playoffs. Regardless of how Rhodes fares over the rest of the week, Hill will need to be ready.“He’s still learning, obviously, like most young guys are,” Zimmer said, “but he’s got a lot of really good competitiveness.”