Vikings must trade for a quarterback to give their all-world defense a shot

There isn’t a whole lot of time between the end of the Vikings’ 23-6 loss to the Bills on Monday night and the NFL trade deadline, which is at 3 p.m. CT on Tuesday afternoon. But there’s enough time for GM Nolan Teasley to work the phones and do what must be done. He needs to trade for a quarterback who can provide an inkling of help to the Vikings’ incredible defense. Carson Wentz clearly is not the answer. Wentz was horrific on Monday night against a bad Bills defense, completing just 8 of 25 passes for 81 yards with three turnovers and a passer rating of 8.9 (the lowest by an NFL QB with at least 25 attempts since Jets Sam Darnold in 2019). Kyler Murray is dealing with a hamstring injury and probably isn’t the answer either, considering how he played in the Vikings’ two previous games. Frankly, it’s becoming clear that trading away J.J. McCarthy in late September was a poor decision, but that’s its own conversation. The Vikings can’t go back and undo that move. What they can — and must — do is scour what’s out there and go get a new quarterback. At the absolute bare minimum, they need another QB for depth reasons, with Murray hurt and Wentz having a history of getting banged up. With that said, adding another backup-type option isn’t good enough. The Vikings need to go out and do whatever it takes to acquire a starting-caliber quarterback. Their incredible, all-world defense deserves it. Brian Flores’ group was fantastic early on against Josh Allen and the NFL’s No. 1 offense, then eventually wore down while spending over 42 minutes of game time on the field, as any defense would. The Vikings didn’t even necessarily need an outstanding quarterback performance to have a chance to beat the Bills on Monday. It was a one-score game until the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter despite Wentz’s remarkable clunker. Their defense just needed competence from its offense. They needed someone who could sustain a drive or two — only one of Wentz’s 11 drives lasted more than five plays — and keep them off the field.