Kirk Cousins Afforded Strong Endorsement from Former Viking
The 2022 Minnesota Vikings will take a stab at playoff contendership with two new leadership faces in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell, accompanied by a roster that is essentially “the same” as the Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer era.
Minnesota had a glowing opportunity to rebuild under the guise of “new everything,” instead choosing to stay the course with a core group of veterans — mainly Kirk Cousins at QB1.
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Some onlookers of the Vikings understand the efficacy of the plan — surrounding Kirk Cousins with an accommodating, offense-happy coaching staff. In fact, the leader of the Vikings, O’Connell, just won a Super Bowl as offensive coordinator with the Los Angeles Rams, who employ a Cousins-like passer in Matthew Stafford.
Other fans were ready to be done. For them, Cousins symbolizes mediocrity and “more of the same.” The goal — or alternative to Cousins — would be to draft the next Joe Burrow or Patrick Mahomes. While that idea is marvelous, the Vikings chose to roll the dice with Cousins.
And long-time Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway, who retired after the 2016 season, supports the plan and, in particular, Cousins as the QB1.
Greenway was a Vikings mainstay for 11 seasons, drafted in 2006 at the beginning of the Brad Childress era and remaining until the season before the 2017 NFC Championship push.
In the video clip, he emphatically endorses Cousins as the right man for the Vikings, explaining other 2021 shortcomings he deems unrelated to Cousins.
Speaking on some of Minnesota’s non-Cousins follies, Greenway defended the quarterback, “He can’t control all those things.”
Thankfully for Cousins’ sake, Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell evidently agree with Greenway. Otherwise, the new general manager would’ve traded Cousins and his then-naughty $45 million cap hit rather than signing an extension through the end of the 2023 season.
Cousins’ 2022 supporting cast will feel familiar with the usual suspects of Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, Justin Jefferson, Harrison Smith, Danielle Hunter, Harrison Smith, and Eric Kendricks manning the playmaker roles. Additionally, the Vikings signed defensive free agents Za’Darius Smith, Jordan Hicks, Harrison Phillips, and Chandon Sullivan, among others, to bolster the depth chart.
And the NFL Draft is less than two weeks away, where the Vikings are expected to get even deeper on defense.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. 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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