Justin Jefferson gives Vikings front office every reason to bring Kirk Cousins back

You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone. Well, there is one way of knowing this... When Kirk Cousins went down with his season-ending injury, Minnesota Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson got to see first-hand what life could look like with Cap'n Kirk at the helm of the offense. Jaren Hall briefly played before giving way to Joshua Dobbs, who was traded over from Arizona.

At 6-6 on the season and very much alive to make one of three NFC Wild Card spots, Jefferson expounded on what Cousins has meant to him at the podium on Thursday. He said that he still communicates with Cousins daily, as they look to each other as sources of inspiration. Cousins and Jefferson feed off each others' positivity, even when things are looking grim, like Cousins' hurt leg.

Prior to the Vikings getting back to halfway decent with Dobbs at quarterback, all expectations were that Minnesota general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was going to blow this bad boy up like a volcano at a grade school science fair. Once again, teams don't tank; organizations do. Read that again. Regardless, I would be hard-pressed to think the Vikings have seen the last snap from Cousins.

Here is the entire clip of Jefferson expressing with great gratitude how much he appreciates Cousins.

Minnesota still may be in a position to draft a franchise quarterback, but the Vikings are likely going to be too good to draft either Caleb Williams out of USC or Drake Maye out North Carolina in the top 10.

Justin Jefferson's praise of Kirk Cousins may result in Vikings QB's return

Cousins may not be everyone's favorite quarterback, but he has had a phenomenal professional career, given how he entered the league out of Michigan State. He was a fourth-round pick in the same draft class that saw Washington trade up to No. 2 to draft the Heisman Trophy winner out of Baylor in Robert Griffin III. One is calling games for ESPN, while the other is still playing in the league.

Even though the Vikings drafted Hall out of BYU, they could still be in the market to take someone in the middle of round one. There could be as many as six quarterbacks going in the first 32 picks. Maye and Williams are top-three picks. Jayden Williams out of LSU feels like a top-12 pick. So does Michigan's J.J. McCarthy if he declares. Washington's Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon's Bo Nix both feel top-32.

While the Vikings could conceivably make a clean break off Cousins this offseason, especially with him sustaining such a significant injury, you have to wonder what Jefferson wants. Minnesota may have drafted Adam Thielen's replacement in Jordan Addison out of USC, but the Vikings offense will only go as far as Jefferson's prime could take them. Of course, that would be amplified with Cousins.

I would keep an eye on Minnesota possibly drafting a quarterback, but they're not done with Cousins.