Kirk Cousins Opens Up about His Future
Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is at a career crossroads this offseason.
Kirk Cousins Opens Up about His Future
And he knows it.
Cousins spoke with NFL.com this week, some five weeks before free agency kicks off. The ex-Vikings signal-caller seemed to know his time in Atlanta was limited and stated his health for 2025 is the primary focus at the moment.
“I definitely feel like I have a lot of good football left in me. Time will tell. It’s still kind of uncertain. We’ll get to March and know a lot more. But I think the focus for me really is getting healthy. That’s really my focus is I gotta get healthy,” Cousins said about his next steps.
Cousins’ Falcons started 6-3 in 2024 before collapsing altogether and missing the postseason by one game. Atlanta even benched Cousins for rookie passer Michael Penix Jr., and he will start Week 1 of 2025, not Cousins.
The 36-year-old also elaborated on his health: “I’m no good to the Falcons, I’m no good to a team, if I’m not feeling really good. That’s really where my focus has been through January and February now that the season has wound down, really taking all the time I can to get my body feeling really good.”
Atlanta paid Cousins $180 million over four years via free-agent contract last offseason, $100 million of which was guaranteed. The veteran passer made it through 14 games with the Falcons, so, yes, Atlanta paid Cousins $100 million for 14 starts.
In fact, if Atlanta cuts or trades or Cousins — that’s the expectation at the moment — his next team will onboard him for cheap. The deal will resemble Russell Wilson’s last year in Pittsburgh.
“We were 6-3, was playing well, doing a lot of good things, even if the right ankle wasn’t perfect. Nobody’s perfect in this league. We’re never feeling 100 percent. So it didn’t really affect me too much, but then against the Saints [in Week 10], I got hit pretty good in my right shoulder and elbow. From there, kinda dealing with that, it was something I was working through. Just never could get it really to where I wanted it,” Cousins said, glancing back at 2024 and his health.
Keep an eye on the Cleveland Browns for Cousins’ services. Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski worked with Cousins for two seasons in Minnesota (2018 and 2019), and Cleveland may need an affordable quarterback while finishing out the financial hell brought upon the organization by Deshaun Watson, who is expected to miss all of 2025 with a re-injured Achilles.
Cousins will turn 37 in August.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment.