image Courtesy of Vikings.com
The Minnesota Vikings trudged through about two weeks of Kirk Cousins-less trade rumors. It was a good run. The last widespread nugget of gossip involved a swap of Cousins to the Denver Broncos for quarterback Drew Lock and draft picks. The hearsay quickly subsided because – you guessed it – it was unsubstantiated.
On Thursday, though, the Cousins Sweepstakes reignited in the wake of the Carson Wentz trade. The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback was sent to the Indianapolis Colts for two draft picks – a 2021 3rd-Rounder and conditional 2nd-Rounder in 2022. The 2022 pick can transform to a 1st-Rounder if Wentz plays 75% of snaps in 2021. That should be a doable goal if Wentz is any good. This transaction also reunites Wentz with the coach that brought him into this world, Frank Reich. When the Eagles won a Super Bowl in 2017, Reich was the offensive coordinator.
By default (yes, sarcasm), Cousins is now on the trade block because Wentz was jettisoned to another team. This is how offseason logic works when a franchise quarterback is not appreciated.
SKOR North started the dialogue this time.
Welcome back. We’ve missed you.
Here’s why the Cousins trade chatter is reborn.
Wentz Trade Rekindles Rumors
Kirk Cousins is not universally championed as a good quarterback. To some, his statistics mean nothing. A man’s or woman’s eye test is superior to tangible numerical evidence in such circumstances – or so they say.
Ergo, Wentz was dealt to Indianapolis, triggering the “what if” stratosphere of digital sports media. The speculation goes like this: “If the Eagles can get two picks – maybe even a 1st Rounder – for a wayward Wentz, what can the Vikings get for Cousins?”
That strange logic plops Cousins in a vat of trade rumors. It’s commonplace now. The 32-year-old Cousins owns the sixth-highest passer rating of all-time, but that does not make him a beneficiary of appreciation. In fact, every criticism imaginable about Cousins (there are dozens) is rooted in “yeah but.” He led the NFL in 4th Quarter touchdowns passes (5 TDs) in games with a score margin of three points – not good enough. The narrative switches to “yeah, but what about that one interception he threw seven weeks ago.” To be clear, this a tendency laser-focused on Cousins. Most other established franchise quarterbacks are immune to whataboutism – or encounter it considerably less than Cousins.
The Wentz move makes people dream visions of utopia. Trade Cousins and kickstart Drew Lock’s career is the working theory, evidently.
What about Drew Lock?
Drew Lock performed quite well in 2019. He took over late in the season when the Broncos terminated the Joe Flacco and Brandon Allen experiments. For about a month, Lock was an amicable personality and productive for a rookie.
Then the pandemic season happened. Lock was underwhelming. His “next step” was stymied and a sophomore slump lurked instead. As a result, John Elway and former Vikings executive (now Denver general manager) George Paton must either stick with Lock or try a different signal-caller.
Lock is one month younger than 2020 rookie, Joe Burrow. Does it seem like that? Nope. But it’s true. A reasonable organization will give Lock more time to develop. It is borderline criminal to capitulate hope on a quarterback at age 24 – unless that player is absolutely dreadful. Lock is not.
The Broncos quarterback needs more time to mature and a benefit of the doubt granted to him. That makes a Cousins-for-Lock deal extremely unlikely.
For Denver, Cousins Would be Marvelous
Denver purportedly wanted Cousins during his 2018 free agency. Elway was embroiled in quarterback misery, an agony that began the moment Peyton Manning retired in 2016.
Cousins chose the Vikings. Now – with an ex-Vikings voice in the front office – a Cousins-to-Denver flirtation really gets the juices flowing for fans.
What’s more, Cousins would be a terrific asset to the Broncos. Denver has three sexy wide receivers in Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick, and Jerry Jeudy. Cousins would feast – especially with a decent offensive line headlined by Garrett Bolles. He would instantly add stability to a franchise that has irrefutably lacked quarterback consistency for five full seasons. Like the crow flies, Cousins delivers 4,000+ passing yards and 30+ passing touchdowns per season. Cue Coloradoans salivating.
However, none of this will happen. Minnesota is committed to Cousins. Meanwhile, SKOR North enjoys the process of getting folks on the road to conjecture.
View Comments
Only smart to move cousins. Repeat we will not win a championship with this guys . Pls get tht through your heads. Our team is hostage to his contact and hinders team building. If the vikings were smart they would sale and build the lines and secondary. Again there's no possible way we win in 2021 with this contract. 9 and 7 at most is what I see which is not a successful season so why not be smart and do the right thing
I would disagree. Most people don't sell a car because the tires are weak. They replace the tires. A championship team needs a top qb, who would we end up with that is better than Cousins ? No one is available that is better. Hang in there, Cousins is the man, just has to beat the Vikings curse.
if your $83M car weren’t performing, would you replace it or put new tires on it? yeah, that’s what I thought...great analogy...”Vikings curse”, call it what it really is, ineptitude
Juice man You 100% right anybody don't agree with what you said doesn't know football.... You would never win a championship with him,,, Super bowl is not in his DNA we keep blaming the offensive line but when Roger scrambling in the backfield and throw a 40-yard touchdown we say Aaron Rodger is great but his 0-line broke down,,, but a good quarterback know how to make things happen,,,,, Cousin don't have the ability it's not in his DNA this not hate ,this is the truth,,, remember nothing wrong with the offensive line of the Vikings,, when we not man enough to speak the truth we blame a group so you don't have to pick out one individual person,,,, cousin is the trouble man not the tires
I’d trade Cousins for a bag of balls. Zero leadership qualities.
Juiceman is a 9-7 armchair weekend speculative instigator. Reality is, numbers speak for themselves. If you think about it, Cousins' QB rating was higher than Tom Brady's for two consecutive years. What the difference is? The supporting cast. Brady went to a TB team loaded with talent and a top notch offensive line. They also had a GOOD defense. Stabilize the O line and get a pass rush and this will be a much different, much better team. That being done is much more difficult than said. Especially with the madness of free agency and bazillion dollar contracts, etc. So, instead of foaming at the mouth over the prospect of bringing in a young, raw talent, try indulging in realistic propositions that may actually benefit the team and the players that are currently on the roster. You really think Lock is the one to bring the Vikings to a Superbowl? Really?????
Are you comparing Tom Brady with Kirk Cousins? Kirk has 1 playoff win in 7 seasons with some good teams. His cap his is for 2022 is 45 million guaranteed March 19th of THIS YEAR. That is more then Mahomes cap number. I'm not a Kirk hater, but the Vikings are 28th in pass attempts and can get similar production for a far better cap number. He just doesn't fit what the Vikings are doing.
“Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” VL
Cousins was signed to do one thing, win football games, all other stats are meaningless. Keep Cousins and he’ll be at home watching the playoffs on TV again, it’s that simple and that obvious. He’s another way overpaid underachiever, move on Minnesota
Cousins and his contract have to go or we are stuck with him for at least 3 more years at this point they should take almost anything to get out of that contract
The Vikings have had some of the most talented and historically well compiled collection of members the nfl has ever seen, and not a single one of them, has outperformed cousins on or off the field... the guy gets Crushed, repeatedly is incessantly ordered to undertake a “scheme “ manipulation. He’s never hurt, well, u would never hear him say it anyway. I wouldn’t trade cousins for manholes, the Baltimore guy, I would for even a 1 year shot at Brady... he’s never.... on the horn doing jackassy shit. And every year his accomplishments improve. So yeah, he definitely is not a fit in a Minneapolis organization... if there was any integrity amongst the boosters you’d demand a gimmick, celebrated high school phenomenon as a way of business and give him an oversized headgear, not some klunker, but the safest damn thing technology allows. Yep “THE BIG HELMET “ is what Minneapolis deserves I’m serious,,, imagine how you will “gUSH”when your celebrated homer leads to your great reward,,, and leave a real man out ya mouth.
Cousins is not the answer. He needs to go. Free up the cap space and build.
This article is bogus. Denver is looking for a long term answer, not another veteran free agent stint. Please keep your Vikings QB.
Lots of vitriol towards Kirk Cousins...did anyone watch the SB? The Savior, Mahomes, whom every new qb should be compared to, looked mere mortal...please stop. This is a team game, Cousins and the Vikings can succeed...if you don't like the product find a new team.
It appears only logical the Bronco's target a 21st century QB, i.e., Watson, Wilson, Dak, Ty Taylor - i.e., a Signal Caller who is a complete all around type player, who can pass and run, a "duel threat" Field General who presents multiple threats - as opposed to yesteryears QB like Cousins who is akin to a mobile stature, he can "scramble" but its to buy time, not to advance the ball - boys, I think we're going to have to be honest and blunt - last century's QB model was based, in good part on racism and exclusion … prohibiting and forbidding Black QBs to play the NFL game and thus, deliberately if not also strategically maintaining the dominance of immobile QBs by limiting the position to virtually only White guys.... the game, the position is evolving and as time goes on the QB slot will look like the rest of the NFL 80 Black - based on talent, abilities, skills and tools - not skin color... have a good day boys