One Kirk Cousins Rumor Is Finally Dead
Dustin Baker
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During every Minnesota Vikings offseason since 2020 — and arguably before for the other team — Kirk Cousins has been at least sideways linked to the San Francisco 49ers through the rumor mill.
One Kirk Cousins Rumor Is Finally Dead
For the Vikings’ sake, the culprits were usually folks who wanted Cousins off the team, so marrying him, in theory, to the 49ers was an irresistible, bees-to-honey talking point.
The problem was that it never held any merit. It was just smoke and best-laid plans for the anti-Cousins crowd. And formally this week, any Cousins-to-49ers theories can be laid to rest. A true RIP.
San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan told NBC Sports this week, “It’s a nice feeling, I know that — having stability at that position … Now, it’s like kind of building around Purdy.”
Of course, Cousins may still depart the Vikings as the 35-year-old is scheduled to hit free agency in 10 days. This may indeed be the off-ramp. Teams like the Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers, and New England Patriots are expected to explore his free agency if he doesn’t re-up with the Vikings, while some fringe theorists claim the Las Vegas Raiders and Denver Broncos could be options, too. But on the whole, the 49ers can be crossed off the list.
An expensive Cousins won’t join the 49ers, a franchise with an inexpensive quarterback that just reached the Super Bowl and had a reasonable shot at winning the thing. Purdy, at one million bucks, is a better value than Cousins at $45 million, and even Shanahan knows it.
Shanahan said in 2021 about Cousins, his former coworker, “To say that my prototypical guy is someone like Kirk Cousins. I mean, that’s just, everyone knows my history with Kirk. We drafted him in the 4th round in Washington.”
“I got to coach him for three games. And then, we were fired, I left, I thought we’d have a chance to get him [in San Francisco] in free agency, and I would have loved to have him in free agency until Jimmy came along the year before. Because I thought we could have won with him, just like Minnesota has,” Shanahan added.
Since those comments found the light of day three years ago, Vikings fans ready to be done with Cousins have incessantly found faux methods to get him on San Francisco’s roster and far away from the Vikings. The plan just never materialized.
Cousins’ next contract should fetch between $35-$50 million annually. The next step is to determine his employer. But it won’t be the 49ers. They’ve got Mr. Irrelevant.
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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