Kirk Cousins Sets the Table to Remain with Vikings in 2022
Dustin Baker
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The Minnesota Vikings rallied Sunday versus the Chicago Bears, winning 31-17 after an anemic first half. The game was a forum for [what will turn out to be] the final appearance by many men associated with the organization.
Head coach Mike Zimmer is reportedly moving on after eight seasons. Linebacker Anthony Barr sounded like a man after the game who was departing, too.
And much of the early offseason will be spent speculating on the 2022 whereabouts of quarterback Kirk Cousins. Although Cousins is the NFL’s eighth highest-paid passer, a whopping $45 million of his contract hits the cap next year. A comparatively small cap hit of $21 million for Cousins registered against the ledger in 2020, but now is the time to pay the piper on the Vikings cap structure. It’s all a numbers game regarding NFL contracts, with fans and pundits laser-focused on the $45 million in 2022. Meanwhile, nobody cared about the $21 million “discount” against the cap in 2020. So it goes. It was not convenient for naysayers to applaud the smaller number two years ago.
Because the $45 million is controversial, the prospect of trading Cousins this offseason is palpable. A handful of teams are quarterback-needy, desiring a passer like Cousins who offers 30+ touchdowns religiously. The Vikings could be on the brink of an era where they employ an unproven commodity at the position — as they did with Christian Ponder, Matt Cassel, Teddy Bridgewater, or Sam Bradford during the Zimmer era — simply to keep it cheap at the sport’s most important position. That’s the appetite from many fans, anyway.
Left up to Cousins, though, he doesn’t want to leave at all. After beating the Bears, Cousins told reporters:
“It’s hard to have these conversations when I haven’t given it any thought and don’t know any of those numbers. But I know that I want to be a Viking, and that’s kind of the foundation of it all. From there, it’s pretty easy to make those conversations happen when you want to be a Minnesota Viking.”
Unless the 33-year-old is outwardly lying, he has no desire to start over — again. Minnesota will likely employ a new head coach, perhaps one more in-tune with the offensive operations (Zimmer is a defense-always personality).
Too, the quote by Cousins suggests his contract is flexible. His money is guaranteed through 2022, but he could accept an extension with the franchise or enter restructuring talks. Fans would like nothing more than “Cousins at a discount.” Cousins has never taken a discount for the team’s sake before, but strangers things have happened.
Cousins’ desire to remain in purple and gold is the starting point for his future in Minnesota. He doesn’t want to leave. All signs point to Rick Spielman staying with the organization — making it an uphill battle for followers of the team who want to “be done with Cousins.”
The best-case scenario for those wanting to see a new approach at quarterback is for a brand new man or woman taking over the general manager role, with Spielman allocated to a different job with the Vikings (rumors are out there on that idea).
Otherwise, the table is set — as early as Week 18 of the 2021 season — for Cousins to stay put for at least another season in Minnesota.
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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