Vikings' Kendall Wright hopes he's found a career partner in Kirk Cousins

The former Bears receiver is on a one-year deal that he hopes will turn into something more long-term.

April 2, 2018 at 10:09PM
Chicago Bears wide receiver Kendall Wright (13) is tackled by Baltimore Ravens free safety Lardarius Webb in an overtime period of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass) ORG XMIT: OTK
Kendall Wright is hoping his time with the Vikings will stick after last playing for the Bears and Titans. (AP Photo/Nick Wass) (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

In his six-year NFL career, Kendall Wright has caught passes from 10 different quarterbacks. He's been targeted with passes from 12 different QBs (or 13, if you count the pass Bears running back Tarik Cohen threw his way last year).

The Vikings hope, during Wright's 2018 season in Minnesota, that they'll only add one more quarterback's name to that list.

Wright, the latest addition to the Vikings' offense, comes to Minnesota after six years of what's amounted to speed dating with different passers in Tennessee and Chicago. Beyond the team's new practice facility in Eagan — which the receiver called "the best I've ever seen" — the main draw to signing a one-year deal with the Vikings was the chance to play with quarterback Kirk Cousins, in what both likely hope can become a long-term relationship.

"I've played with countless quarterbacks in my career," Wright said in a conference call with Twin Cities reporters on Monday. "I've never played with one of Kirk Cousins' caliber. I've never played with a quarterback who threw for 4,000 yards, so that was definitely a big reason."

After visiting the Chiefs, Wright came to Minnesota on Thursday and signed with the Vikings on Friday afternoon. He's primarily been a slot receiver, and he'll likely spend plenty of time at that position, though Wright talked on Monday about the Vikings' ability to move receivers around and capitalize on the versatility of Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs.

In any case, after catching 59 passes for 614 yards a year ago in Chicago, he'll give the Vikings another option in their effort to build out their skill position group around Cousins.

"I've heard a lot about him, just from Robert [Griffin III, Wright's quarterback at Baylor and Cousins' former teammate in Washington]," Wright said. "Robert talked about him a lot, talked good about him a lot. That was a big part of the decision."

Wright will wear No. 17, in a move likely to please fans that own former Vikings receiver Jarius Wright's jersey of the same number. The 20th overall pick in the 2012 draft will play on his second straight one-year contract, after spending the first five seasons of his career on his rookie deal with the Titans.

He's hoping his time with the Vikings will translate to another deal that keeps him with the team — and with Cousins — beyond 2018.

"They like me, and I like being there," Wright said. "The culture and the coaching staff that you're going to get here, I've never really had that. Maybe while I'm playing, the one-year deal can turn into something bigger."

about the writer

about the writer

Ben Goessling

Sports reporter

Ben Goessling has covered the Vikings since 2012, first at the Pioneer Press and ESPN before becoming the Minnesota Star Tribune's lead Vikings reporter in 2017. He was named one of the top NFL beat writers by the Pro Football Writers of America in 2024, after honors in the AP Sports Editors and National Headliner Awards contests in 2023.

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