Minnesota Vikings newcomer Josh Dobbs woke up to a text from his agent the day of the NFL trade deadline, warning him he could be traded after being told otherwise.
Hours later, the Arizona Cardinals dealt Dobbs to the Vikings in an exchange of late-round draft picks. Dobbs has already received a warm welcome from Minnesota after leading an improbable comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons last week.
Dobbs broke his silence on what happened in his final days in Arizona, saying Cardinals coach Johnathon Gannon pulled a 180° on him in the final hours of the NFL trade window.
After a 31-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, October 29, Dobbs recalled Gannon telling him in the locker room he would start the following week.
“We’re in the locker room. (Gannon) gets off his podium — he does media before I do — and he says I’m starting for the Cardinals in Cleveland the next week,” Dobbs said on the “Torchbearers” podcast. “I go to the facility on Monday and J.G. calls me to his office and says, ‘Hey, we’re gonna start Clayton Tune in Cleveland.’”
Dobbs went from starting, to benched to traded in the span of 48 hours. He added that he was confused because Gannon had assured him he was not being traded.
“I went home (on Monday) and called my agent, just talking to him about the situation,” Dobbs said. “Went to sleep, woke up Tuesday morning with a text from my agent saying, ‘Hey, you could be traded today because it’s the trade deadline.’ When I had the meeting with J.G. in Arizona he looked at me in the face and he said, ‘You’re not being traded. You’re not being released. You’re going to be here in Arizona.”
Arizona’s change of heart isn’t unfounded. The Vikings quarterback situation dramatically changed Sunday leading into Monday morning when an MRI confirmed Kirk Cousins would be lost for the season with a torn Achilles, which may have led to a late call by Minnesota.
The Cardinals were shut out 27-0 last week by the Cleveland Browns in their first game without Dobbs. Kyler Murray is expected to return to his starting role this week.
