Kirk Cousins Never Wants to Leave Minnesota

Kirk Cousins
Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports.

Ah, it is that time of year again. We are hearing from the players in an official press conference format. We get to use these press conferences for reckless speculation. And one of those is how Kirk Cousins never wants to leave Minnesota.

Kirk Cousins was one of several players to have a press conference on the first day the Vikings were together. This is the first time Cousins has spoken to the media since he signed his extension. He made a comment that might surprise some people. He said that he wants to retire as a Viking.

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Uh oh.

This comment and the reckless speculation people in the media, on social media, and opinion writers like me will have a field day. Although, we really shouldn’t be that shocked.

This is not the first time Cousins has said he wants to retire as Viking. It is one of his goals. However, he also understands that this is a results-driven league, and if he doesn’t, he will be out the door. This is one reason why he signed the contract that he did.

Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Many people, including myself, are skeptical of Cousins’ ability to elevate the Vikings to a championship. However, he said he signed the contract to give more cap space to the team to build a competitive team. He only has a $31 million cap hit, which seems high, but it’s not terrible for the current cap environment.

What Does Kirk Cousins’ Contract Tell Us

Ok, this is reading the tea leaves a little bit. A lot has been written about Cousins and his contract, but it seems that the Vikings don’t want to tie themselves to Cousins long term. This is likely the reason why he only signed a one-year extension.

Ultimately, this leads back to the winning more games conversation. Kwesi is essentially saying, ok, Kirk, you have one year to show us what you got. If you don’t get this done, we are drafting your replacement in 2023.

Although, it is not clear what the fan base thinks about this.

There are only Kirk Haters and Kirk Stans, it seems. However, we have to try and be more objective than that. We can analyze his flaws and what he does well. Then we can sit back and ask, is this man worthy of the contract he is getting paid?

Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Currently, the answer to that is split among the fan base. Nonetheless, Kirk is our quarterback, and he has a new coaching staff to guide him and the team forward.

Cousins is Excited for New Coaching Staff

Kirk Cousins also discussed the new coaching staff. He said he doesn’t really care if the head coach is offensive-minded. He finds it much more important to have a group of smart football coaches. This could be the quarterback coach, offensive coordinator, or what have you. But as long as those guys are good, then he is onboard.

Although, Kirk does seem happy about Kevin O’Connell saying that the offense will be tailored around Cousins. Whether or not this pans out throughout the season remains to be seen. But for now, we have a coach and a quarterback who are very like-minded.

Hopefully, this results in a better relationship than Cousins and Zimmer had together.