Kirk Cousins Grabs Bizarre Hall of Fame Shoutout
Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback has a reputation for loving Kohl’s Cash — and securing monster contracts every step of the way over the last decade.
Kirk Cousins received an outside-the-box nod in an ESPN Hall of Fame piece this week, and when you drill down, it’s exactly what you’d expect.
It’s the duality of man for Cousins, and this week, ESPN made sure to shower faux Hall of Fame praise on the Atlanta Falcons passer.
Cousins earned a spot on Bill Barnwell’s “Bag Hall of Fame” list.
It’s the “Bag Hall of Fame” for Kirk Cousins
A “Bag Hall of Fame” is evidently comprised of players who are all-timers at fattening their wallets.
Barnwell included Cousins at the very top of his list and explained, “Calling card: Making the front office so mad it refused to call him ‘Kirk.’ If you explained this concept to an NFL fan and asked them who they thought was worthy of induction, they would probably name Cousins first. About to become the most expensive backup quarterback in NFL history, Cousins has earned more than $294 million in his career and has another $37.5 million in guaranteed money coming from the Falcons before the 2026 season begins.”
“He has been underrated as a reliable passer for most of his career, but it’s also fair to say he has never been the best quarterback in football, either. While the salary cap will eventually grow to the point where that figure is topped, the only other player in the same stratosphere in terms of earning money as a free agent (and the extensions that followed) is Drew Brees, who made more than $256 million after signing with the Saints.”
Cousins led the Vikings from 2018 to 2013, while his team accrued the NFL’s 13th-best record at 53-45-1 (.540). He departed in 2024 free agency, snatching a contract worth $180 million over four years. The Falcons benched Cousins for rookie Michael Penix Jr. eight months later.
Barnwell added, “The only other players who topped $100 million in earnings from teams that signed them as free agents are Ryan Tannehill ($123.4 million) and Ndamukong Suh ($104 million). Is Cousins going to be a Hall of Famer like Brees or Rodgers one day? No. Does he belong in the Bag Hall of Fame? There can be no doubt.”
Kirk Cousins Gets Almost Comical HOF Nod
It’s all about the money for Kirk Cousins, according to ESPN.
The Label … Fits?
When playing as a starter with the Vikings or Washington Commanders, Cousins usually checked in around the league’s 11th to 13th-best quarterback in a given season. But per earnings, Cousins often tabulated Top 8 cheddar, and sometimes closer to the Top 3.
The man is known for being all about his money, even if his everyday personality doesn’t match the persona.
So, he gains placement on lists like Barnwell’s. All about the bag.
Kirk Cousins as a QB2 in ATL
Cousins faces a rocky 2025 outlook, his first time waltzing into a regular season without a QB1 title in 10 years. Atlanta started the 2024 campaign quite hot, tallying a 6-3 record, but the wheels soon fell off.
The former Vikings passer didn’t play effectively, looked injured from a lingering Achilles tear the year before, and before too long — after the Vikings beat his Falcons — Atlanta benched him for Penix Jr.
His QB2 contract is unholy expensive, but this is the way Atlanta scripted everything during the 2024 offseason.
Wild Trade Rumors
Meanwhile, Cousins apparently doesn’t love the backup quarterback arrangement, skipping OTAs in May and sparking trade rumors.
Because he played for the Vikings from 2018 to 2023 and the Vikings’ current quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, is inexperienced, the rumor mill hasn’t been shy about linking Cousins to the Vikings. To be sure, Minnesota is unlikely to trade for Cousins and his huge contract, but it’s a hot talker from the national media.
Cousins could be the first player the Vikings looked at if another injury beset McCarthy. Otherwise, the trade theories are silly.
Barnwell’s Criteria
Barnwell made sure to let his audience know that the “Bag Hall of Fame” is not an insult.
“Now, I need to be very clear here. This isn’t an attempt to honor players who were overpaid or didn’t deserve the money they made during their time in the NFL. I’d reject that concept in principle: Just about every player, past or present, was or is underpaid relative to the risks they take by playing professional football. There’s no fun in poking at backup quarterbacks who were able to collect checks while rarely stepping on the field,” he wrote.
“Instead, I want to reward the players who did the best job of maximizing their leverage and getting paid for their ability. Players who pushed holdouts to the next level. Players who bet on themselves and were handsomely rewarded for doing so. Players who even managed to represent themselves in negotiations and pocket millions of dollars that would have otherwise gone to an agent.”
For example, players like Deion Sanders, Jalen Ramsey, and Matthew Stafford got the same attention.
Barnwell concluded, “For this first class, the selection committee (me) is inducting eight players into what will surely one day be a physical Hall of Fame. Most of the players are still active, but they’ve already done enough to earn their way into the BHOF without a five-year waiting period. Many of them have won Super Bowls, and a handful are either in the Pro Football Hall of Fame or should end up in Canton someday. That Hall of Fame, though, won’t be the only institution honoring them for their work.”
Cousins will turn 37 next month.
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