ESPN Predicts Kirk Cousins’ Fate with Vikings
In an analysis which predicts Jimmy Garoppolo to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Derek Carr to Washington Commanders and rookies like Kenny Pickett to Carolina Panthers and Sam Howell to the Pittsburgh Steelers – Kirk Cousins is staying put in Minnesota, per ESPN’s forecast.
The Vikings have a gargantuan decision to make on the immediate future of Cousins, either trading him to a QB-needy team or retaining him with a contract decision. New Minnesota general manager must make the call, presumably before the NFL Draft on April 28th. Cousins is scheduled to gash the Vikings salary cap in 2022 for a $45 million cap hit, and he is not quite that good to command such a sum.
ESPN outlined predictions for the ever-evolving quarterback market this week, predicting presumptive head coach Kevin O’Connell rolls with Cousins, at least for a year or two. Courtney Cronin from ESPN explained the Cousins retention in Minnesota:
Finding a trade partner who is willing to take on Cousins’ $35 million fully guaranteed base salary is no simple task. The Vikings would undoubtedly be on the hook for millions if they traded the 33-year-old quarterback (by absorbing a big part of his salary to move him) when there’s only one year left on his deal. While that one year does come with a $45 million cap hit, Minnesota can look to restructure other veteran contracts (Harrison Smith and Adam Thielen?) and/or trade edge rusher Danielle Hunter to free up cap space so they can keep Cousins for 2022 without having to pay him another lucrative extension.
– Courtney Cronin | ESPN
The process would be similar to Rick Spielman’s 2020 antics, prolonging Cousins’ deal by a couple of years in hopes the team finally effectuates a deep playoff run with Cousins in charge. The 2020 tactic did not work as the Vikings record since the extension is 15-18. When Cousins was signed for a few more years, the Vikings owned one of the NFL’s top defenses under head coach Mike Zimmer, but Zimmer’s famously ferocious defense passed away in 2020 as EDGE rusher Danielle Hunter was mired by injury during the last two seasons. Cousins is not good enough to drag a team with a poor offensive line and lousy defense to the Promised Land. Hardly any quarterback on Earth is capable of such a feat, but Cousins takes more heat than most.
So, because the leadership is brand new, from the general manager to the head coach and even the new coach’s eventual staff, Cousins evidently will get one or two more cracks at success with the Vikings, according to ESPN’s early offseason theory.
O’Connell arrives Minnesota from a staff that just nurtured Matthew Stafford into Super Bowl contendership – after Stafford encountered several stinky win-loss seasons with the Detroit Lions amid 12 years as the starter. If Cousins remains with the Vikings, the working theory would suggest, like Stafford, Cousins is the type of passer to build a team around.
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We shall see, as Cousins’ teams in seven seasons as a starter have won just one playoff game – a rather magnificent feat on the road at the New Orleans Saints in the 2019 season.
The official news of O’Connell’s hire should hit the wire the day after the Super Bowl. Then, the will-they or won’t-they on trading Cousins will get louder than ever.
Cousins is the owner of the NFL’s seventh-best passer rating of all time. He is the only active quarterback in the NFL to throw 25+ touchdown passes in seven consecutive seasons.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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