Kirk Cousins Has Strikingly High Odds to Become QB of AFC Team
The Minnesota Vikings quarterback carries a cobby cap hit into 2022, costing the franchise $45 million. That’s the current plan anyway.
His name is Kirk Cousins, and he is a divisive figure. Every season, Cousins delivers 4,000+ passing yards and 30+ touchdown passes. Yet, even with that robust statline, some fans aren’t convinced of his abilities as a QB1. Cousins’ cap hit in 2020 was $21 million — lower in that season than a player like Jacoby Brissett — because the salary cap was slim, so Minnesota chose to backload the extension. Now, the time can be called backload central.
Ergo, new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah must find a solution regarding Cousins. It could be a trade. Perhaps a 2020-like extension. Maybe Adofo-Mensah converts some of the one-year $45 million sum to void years, paying Cousins in separate seasons down the road.
If Cousins is traded, Vegas has a frontrunner — the Cleveland Browns.
Aside from Cleveland’s incumbent quarterback, Baker Mayfield, Cousins has strikingly high odds to become the Browns 2022 QB1.
And, yes, that likely means Baker Mayfield would land with the Vikings.
If the Vikings want to trade Cousins — that is a humongous assumption because Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell insist their excitement to employ Cousins is real — Cleveland is an incredibly appropriate spot. In some ways, it makes too much sense.
Foremost, Kevin Stefanski is the Browns head coach, and he was the guy who helped orchestrate the best season of Cousins career — 2019. The Vikings actually won a postseason game that year, stunning the New Orleans Saints on the road in the wildcard round of the playoffs. In theory, Stefanski, Cousins, and the Browns could try to replicate that season in Ohio.
Then, Adofo-Mensah is a product of the Browns front office. Cleveland was his last employer, arriving at the Browns front office in 2020. He knows people in high places throughout the organization. Amid contract extension talks with Cousins — which are allegedly ongoing — if Cousins asks for a price tag too rich for Adofo-Mensah’s blood, a pivot to Cleveland for trade talks adds up.
The Browns aren’t sold on Mayfield (or, at least, they shouldn’t be), who played poorly in 2021. He’s due for an extension on his rookie contract after selection as the #1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Should the Vikings sour on Cousins inside the extension talks, the Browns would be among the speed-dial options for a subsequent trade.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”928532″ player=”26279″ title=”4%20ideal%20offseason%20Kirk%20Cousins%20trade%20destinations” duration=”81″ description=”It’s time for the Minnesota Vikings to start making plans for the future, one that includes a 2022 offseason with a Kirk Cousins trade and an organizational reset after another disappointing season.Cousins will enter 2022 in a contract year, a position he and the Vikings are very familiar with. While the 33-year-old quarterback is playing at a high level, it’s evident he and the Vikings aren’t close to competing for the NFC North title or a Super Bowl.With that in mind, we examine the best Kirk Cousins trades that would benefit both the star quarterback and his teams.” uploaddate=”2021-12-22″ thumbnailurl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/snapshot/928494_s_1640136316410.jpg” contentUrl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/streaming/928494/928494.m3u8″]
Those are the two reasons the aforementioned site’s odds are so high. It’s not normal for a current QB1 from a decent football team to be +350 odds to join another decent football team. Either oddsmakers know something the general population does not, or Cousins-to-Cleveland really, really makes sense because of existing front-office relationships.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. His YouTube Channel, VikesNow, debuts in March 2022. 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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