Kirk Cousins’ 2024 Fate with Vikings Could Be No-Brainer
In no time, the topic of Kirk Cousins’ future with the Minnesota Vikings will engulf the team’s fanbase.
It will occur the moment the Vikings season ends — which could be in Week 18 or sometime in the postseason, depending on the outcome of the next two games (vs. Green Bay, at Detroit).
Kirk Cousins’ 2024 Fate with Vikings Could Be No-Brainer
And while most Vikings fans have grown fonder of Cousins with the club’s recent quarterback struggles, some insist it’s time for a full divorce and transition into a rookie passer — Cousins’ stability be damned. The Vikings ownership hired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as general manager and head coach Kevin O’Connell about two years ago, and sooner or later, the combination will probably want to draft a quarterback of “their own” and not attach their respective employments to Cousins’ coattails. We shall see.
But that doesn’t mean the franchise won’t do both. That is — re-sign Cousins for a year or two and also draft a quarterback in Round 1 or 2 this April.
How plausible is this theory? Well, everyone who matters keeps claiming Cousins will return, at least for a year or two.
The most recent example was the face of the franchise, Justin Jefferson.
“I feel like I’m always voicing my opinion on Kirk. As much as people downgrade him and not want to give him his credit, I’m always the person that always gives him his credit. I’m always blessed and just accepting of the person that he was for me, the player that he was for me and this team just by being that leader and being that captain, controlling the game, controlling where the ball goes and making great throws,” Jefferson said about Cousins this week.
Jefferson won the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year award in 2022, largely because Cousins fed him the rock.
Jefferson continued, “I think the rest of the world definitely realizes that at this very moment. People don’t see what goes on in the building. They don’t see the relationships that go on, don’t see the connection that goes on. Me and Kirk have a great connection.”
So, that’s the word from the team’s most important player. And the head coach wasn’t too far away from Jefferson’s commentary when Cousins was injured in October.
“Kirk Cousins is going to be healthy again. I know he’s going to be a free agent after this season, but Kirk knows how I feel about him, and that will be something, you know, that hopefully will work itself out,” head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters two months ago.
The pricetag might get dicey between Cousins’ representation and the Vikings’ brass. Cousins always fetches top-tier money, but this time, he’ll be 36 when the 2024 season kicks off, plus recovering from an Achilles tear.
O’Connell added in October, “You guys know how I feel about Kirk. Kirk knows how I feel about Kirk. I think he was playing as well as anybody in the National Football League.”
It’s fine and dandy if you want the Vikings to move on from Cousins. Indeed, it may be time for that. Yet, all the folks with clout continue to say the opposite.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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