Kirk Cousins Reportedly Had Role in Kevin O’Connell Landing with Vikings

Most daily readings about Kirk Cousins during this offseason cycle involve trading or extending the man. But evidence exists more palpably in support of the latter.

Cousins could still be traded by the Minnesota Vikings — the quarterback has a scheduled $45 million cap hit against the Vikings ledger in 2022 after a smaller $21 million cap hit during the 2020 season — if a trade deal blew new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s mind. Free agency is two weeks away, and those hypothetical offers figure to heat up (if they’re real at all).

Yet, a member of the Vikings community — the voice of it really — claims Cousins played a role in selecting the franchise’s new head coach, Kevin O’Connell. That’s Paul Allen from KFAN, who also calls all radio gameplay for the team on the same network.

This week, Allen implied Cousins was figuratively “in the room” for the hire of O’Connell, a theory not widely touted previously. Allen said on his show Friday:

“Kirk put a lot of time into getting Kevin O’Connell hired and put in a lot of time behind the scenes with those who hire. Ok, so now there’s that. And O’Connell is glowing, to a certain extent, along with the new offensive coordinator of Kirk. So, you lay those things out, right there. It would be a metaphorical two-by-four up your butt if they were to just trade him out of nowhere.”

– Paul Allen | KFAN

This is noteworthy because the notion of Cousins helping orchestrate O’Connell’s arrival to the Vikings totally contradicts the “will Cousins be traded?” narrative. If indeed Cousins was consulted, it’s a signal that Vikings ownership and Adofo-Mensah value Cousins’ future with the enterprise.

Cousins is divisive. Aside from quarterbacks like Derek Carr and perhaps Matt Ryan, not many fanbases argue incessantly about whether a football player is actually good. But Vikings fans do — ad nauseam. Routinely, Cousins is accountable for 30+ touchdowns and 4,000+ passing yards per season. On paper, one would be ludicrous for promoting his exodus. Yet, Cousins earns quite the paycheck, to the tune of $33 million per season. In the 2021 season, that was the eighth-highest monetary figure among all quarterbacks. When the numbers shake out at the end of a season, Cousins is usually the NFL’s 11th-best quarterback after all metrics are merged. He’s paid to be the eighth-best, his performance is 11th-best, and fans want him to be a Top 5 caliber signal-caller. That’s why he’s divisive.

Based on comments by Allen or the barrage of tweets from Ian Rapaport from the last two weeks, it is a longshot for a Cousins trade this offseason — especially when the new coaching staff has documented ties to the Michigan State alumnus.

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Theoretically, some franchise could offer a godfather, Stafford-like deal for Cousins, and, of course, Adofo-Mensah would be forced to entertain a Cousins trade. Good businessmen and businesswomen and football brains always have ears open. However, per the rumblings since the addition of Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell, a Cousins trade this offseason is unlikely.

O’Connell even said he loved the guy — an odd quip for a player allegedly on his way out.

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).