Questions Answered: O’Connell Arriving or Not, Stafford’s Case for HOF, Cousins Landing Spot
The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by VikingsTerritory. Today’s is the February 16th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].
Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.
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Q: No new coach yet. What is the hold up?
A: Listen, Kevin O’Connell needs your grace.
His Rams just won their first Super Bowl of the century, and he needs a minute. When the Vikings win a Super Bowl with O’Connell in the saddle, you better believe he’ll be at the parade.
The Vikings will formally name O’Connell as head coach on Thursday, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. You and yours just need a little patience. Indeed, Minnesota encounters a lot of heartbreaks, but this isn’t one of them.
Q: Some people say Matthew Stafford is a Hall of Famer now after the Super Bowl. Do you agree? Would Cousins be in if he wins a Super Bowl?
A: Stafford ranks 12th in passing yards and 12th in passing touchdowns — all-time. He’s 34. By the time he tosses a bow on it, he’ll be Top 5-ish in these metrics. Hall of Fame voters call such volume stats: all-time leaderboards.
The path to the Hall of Fame without a Super Bowl would’ve been tough for Stafford. He was a “loser” in Detroit, tallying a cumulative “quarterback record” of 90-98-1 to date. But based on voters’ appetites in the last couple of decades, Stafford’s shiny ring finger changes everything. Stafford will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Kirk Cousins will not get into the Hall of Fame without a Super Bowl. The conversation — like Stafford’s — would change markedly if Cousins can hoist a Lombardi.
Q: You’ve probably been asked this before, but you had to guess one place where Cousins would be traded, what team is it?
A: Foremost, we do not believe Cousins will be traded. His old coach was hired to lead the enterprise. That was probably purposeful. And all the talking heads suggest Cousins will be back in 2022 with an extension to alleviate the pain of his large 2022 cap hit.
However, if we’re wrong on this hypothesis, we predict the Denver Broncos miss out on the Aaron Rodgers Sweepstakes — Rodgers will return to Wisconsin — and they’ll phone-a-friend to the Vikings. George Paton used to work for the Vikings.
If Cousins is on the trade block, Rodgers will stay put, and Denver will acquire Cousins.
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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