VIKINGS RE-SIGN KIRK COUSINS AND THEY COULDN’T BE MORE RIGHT

I have never fully understood how polarizing Kirk Cousins is to the Minnesota Vikings fan base. When he came in I know some people were so married to Case Keenum because of the Minneapolis Miracle that they felt that he was betrayed by management. It was a great moment and story, but where is Keenum now? Do you even know? I do. I also know he can’t push out a starter that had a terrible year with a head coach that was part of the Vikings offensive staff that year. For some, it comes down to the fact that he hasn’t won a “big game when it matters” and the narrative that sports media can’t let go of that he struggles to win on prime time television. That has some traction as Kirk has played questionably in those games. However, those games in prime time are played against division rivals that for Kirk have included the Cowboys, Eagles, Packers, Bears and conference foes such as the Seahawks, Saints, and 49ers. It’s not an excuse and if you want to be seen as the best you have to beat the best. While some of these teams have fluctuated in their success they have been playoff contenders during his runs with Washington and his time with the Vikings. He has gone head-to-head with some of the best quarterbacks in the league with varying levels of success as an individual. He has never been one to go and take over a game to the level Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady has and he may never do that. He has had moments as the 2021 season saw Cousins move the ball down the field against many teams for the game winning drive or an exclamation point to a half only to have it overshadowed by the defense allowing a touchdown in the last 2 minutes of the half and swinging the momentum, or handing the team a loss. To put that in further perspective, they set an NFL benchmark of allowing touchdowns in the final 2 minutes of halves. Along with that Dalvin Cook had a fumble against the Bengals and Greg Joseph missed a field goal against the Cardinals and the Panthers after Cousins drove the team into scoring position to win those games. In the Panthers game Kirk then drove the team down the field in overtime and hit KJ Osborne with a strike right in front of the end zone which he stretched over the goal line for a touchdown. The second time the Vikings played the Lions at Detroit the team had an abysmal first half and were down 20-6 with no sign of making a comeback. The second half became a different story as Kirk took advantage of defensive turnovers that got the Vikings a 27-23 lead with 1:50 left in the game. Defense let the Lions drive the field and score and it was another loss. The point here is that Cousins had several game winning drives that were derailed either by other teammates’ mistakes or by overall bad play calling on either side of the ball. Had all the games the Vikings ended up losing after Kirk made the throws necessary to win they would have possibly won the division and maybe had the 1st round bye in the playoffs. The narrative on Kirk definitely shifts with these outcomes. Add in his career stats of never throwing more than 13 interceptions in a season and a career high 35 touchdowns 2 years ago and 33 last year with only 7 interceptions while throwing for over 4,000 yards both times makes him one of the top 10-12 quarterbacks in the league. Until he came to Minnesota he wasn’t exactly surrounded by top tier talent in Washington on either side of the ball. When he arrived he was saddled with Mike Zimmer, a coach that still wanted to run the ball more than pass it. Oh, and he didn’t like Kirk at all for some reason.

After a week or so of fans working through scenarios of where he should be traded so that new General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and new Head Coach Kevin O’Connell could blow up the roster and start over, the Vikings made a decision Sunday afternoon. Instead of seeing what picks the Vikings could get in return the team extended Cousins for 1 year in guaranteed money with voidable years added on. In doing so they gave this year’s cap numbers some relief and told the fans that Kirk is their guy and they are going to try to push forward with trying to win instead of rebuilding from the floor up. What does this mean for the rest of the team? Of course I can’t say that losses were part of the team dynamic and then suddenly dismiss them to discuss possible success. While there was cap relief there may be some familiar faces gone after this week and beyond. Even fan favorites like Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook, Danielle Hunter, and Harrison Smith have been discussed as cap casualties due to their cost and age or possible trade bait. The business of the NFL doesn’t care about the fans’ love of the players. Losing some of those names would definitely affect Cousins play as they are big factors on the offense. The defense was ranked 31st last year and losing those key contributors might not make it any better. The Vikings already used some of this maneuvering to get kicker Greg Joseph lined up to re-sign, but are still $2 million over the salary cap. What the Vikings need to do now to keep some of those names is to restructure or sign those players to new contract extensions which is easier said than done. Can they? Sure, but that money eventually comes due in a contract down the road. Some players might feel like they don’t want to play here and move on. The other thing is they need to add some names to the defense through free agency and the draft and they need additional cap space in order to make that happen.

What does this mean for the future? For those that wanted the Vikings to sell the farm and start all over with draft picks and a franchise QB to build around not all hope is lost. This year’s quarterback crop in free agency is not great. I mean, the Steelers just signed Mitch Trubisky as their possible starter and if you made fun of the Bears and him at any time the few years he was in the NFC North then you are not upset he didn’t get signed here as a bridge player until the Vikings draft the next franchise QB. Other than a few big trades last week for players that are either at the end of their careers or are sputtering to start one there isn’t much to choose from. The upcoming draft isn’t much better. There are a few quarterbacks that will go in the first round even if they don’t deserve that level of consideration. Quarterback needy teams will take them early simply to get them on the team to try to get things turned around. The 2023 draft is slightly different as more NFL ready quarterbacks are projected to be drafted and have the skills necessary to compete in the NFL. The Vikings could still very well draft Kirk’s successor in the next year or so and if he doesn’t perform well enough they are in a better position money-wise to release or trade him. They also drafted Kellon Mond last year and we really haven’t seen what he is capable of. The thing you have to remember about the draft it that it all speculation. For every Peyton Manning there are a dozen Ryan Leafs over the years that never made it as well as they were projected. For right now Cousins gives the team the best chance of being competitive right now especially with a new coaching staff. Kevin O’Connell is an offensive minded coach and he will be trying to tap the skills of Cousins, Cook, Justin Jefferson, Irv Smith Jr. and any other offensive weapons to be the best offense they can be. Cousins is never going to be an elite quarterback, but that is OK. Lesser throwers have won Super Bowls with a better team around them or with a stellar defense. I truly think the change in head coaching atmosphere and philosophy will be an eye opener to most. If Kirk can play like he has the last few years with a new system and have a team built around his skills, and use those skills to their fullest potential then the Vikings rebuild might be a short construction process to get back to the playoffs.