Jun 3, 2024; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) is interviewed after Falcons OTA at the Falcons Training facility. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports.
Kirk Cousins departed the Minnesota Vikings in March, pursuing $180 million from the Atlanta Falcons over four years.
In Atlanta, Cousins will serve as QB1, though the Falcons stunningly drafted quarterback Michael Penix Jr. in Round 1 of April’s draft. And thanks to ESPN, new details emerged last week about Cousins’ split from Minnesota.
In short, Minnesota wanted Cousins back in 2024 while still planning to draft a rookie quarterback. Cousins wanted more than a year-to-year commitment.
“With that backdrop, O’Connell leveled with Cousins after the season: The Vikings’ 3-6 record after his injury had exposed the dangers of not looking beyond a 36-year-old quarterback,” Kevin Seifert wrote. “With their best draft position (No. 11 overall) in a decade, the team had decided to tap into a deep 2024 quarterback class and find its next starter. But no one — not ownership, not Adofo-Mensah and not O’Connell — wanted the rookie to play right away. Cousins would be their starter in 2024 and possibly longer.”
While it might’ve been appealing for Cousins to pursue continuity in Minnesota, the veteran passer wanted more guarantee money, which he dressed up in a word salad called “contract structure.”
Seifert added, “Internally, the Vikings knew they couldn’t make that commitment. Adofo-Mensah wanted what he refers to as ‘optionality.’ There was too much value in a rookie quarterback’s contract, with its low salary cap impact, to overlap it with a long-term veteran deal. His final offer, delivered at the NFL combine at the end of February, was a deal that fully guaranteed Cousins’ 2024 salary and offered partial guarantees for 2025. Cousins, who would later say he wanted to avoid what amounted to a ‘year-to-year’ contract, turned it down.”
Until Seifert’s revelation, folks didn’t know that the NFL Combine served as the climax. Many assumed, too, that the Vikings probably wanted Cousins back — on their terms — and the ESPN reporting confirmed the theory.
It’s just that Cousins wanted more guaranteed money, his modus operandi for over a half-decade.
Minnesota ultimately signed Sam Darnold in March, right after Cousins bolted, and drafted J.J. McCarthy six weeks later. Now, those two, with a side dish of Nick Mullens, will duke it out at training camp and in the preseason for QB1, QB2, and QB3 jobs.
Seifert also mentioned that the Vikings did diligence in exploring the trade price for Justin Herbert — which was just a fan-driven theory until the ESPN publication.
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.