I wonder if any of those had to do with the idea of bringing the GOAT out of retirement.

Former Patriots quarterback and current NBC Sports Boston analyst Scott Zolak said this week that the Vikings reached out to Tom Brady about the possibility of bringing him in. There was some natural speculation about that idea at the time, given O’Connell and Brady’s history as Patriots teammates and the fact that Brady previously came out of retirement once.

But it really does seem like he’s hung up the cleats for good this time.

The Vikings made the best of a tough situation by trading almost nothing — a late-round pick swap — to the Cardinals for Josh Dobbs. Since then, Dobbs’ play has been one of the best stories in the NFL. The Vikings beat the Falcons on the road despite their new quarterback having very little preparation, beat the Saints at home, and then narrowly lost to the Broncos on Sunday night.

All Dobbs has done is become the first player in league history with at least one passing touchdown and at least one rushing touchdown in each of their first three games with a new team.

Brady would’ve been quite the story, but the Vikings have to feel good about the way they pivoted once Cousins went down.