How Can the Vikings Build Around Quarterback Kirk Cousins?
The Minnesota Vikings have come to an agreement with quarterback Kirk Cousins on a contract restructure, extending the deal through the 2023 season in exchange for some much-needed salary cap relief.
Cousins’ previous contract had him on the books for a $35 million base salary, with a whopping $45 million against the 2022 cap. Under the new, restructured deal, Cousins will only count for $31.4 million against the cap this season, which provides the team some room to start making other roster moves.
Cousins is now hitched to the Kwesi-Kevin combination, for better or for worse. The new combo will begin their first seasons with success directly tied to the arm and decision-making of their millionaire quarterback. This being the case, they will want to use this offseason to build the best possible roster around Cousins to give him a chance to take the Vikings to a Super Bowl.
How should the Vikings go about constructing a Cousins-friendly roster?
Get Kirk an Offensive Line
The first area of the roster that needs immediate attention is the offensive line. Kirk Cousins is very much a mechanical and rhythm-based quarterback. Kirk Cousins remains one of the least mobile starting quarterbacks in the league. In order for Kirk to succeed, he needs to make throws on rhythm without getting moved out of the pocket too regularly. This requires a stout offensive line, which the Vikings haven’t had for quite some time. Without a doubt, the Vikings front office will invest resources this offseason to protect him.
There are multiple different positions along the offensive line the Vikings need to replace, as well as several ways to go about finding a solution between free agency and the draft. However, the two positions of the most immediate concern are probably along the interior of the line, at the center and guard position. Bradbury, Davis, Udoh, and company are not cutting it.
Over the past few years, the Vikings have looked for solutions to their offensive line woes through the draft. This year, the Vikings do not have the luxury of signing a developmental-type prospect through the draft, hoping things will work out a few years down the line. With Kirk under contract for a lot of money over the next two years, they will most likely need to spend some cash to sign an established player through free agency.
Up until today, many Vikings fans were hoping for Brandon Scherff, formerly of the Washington Commanders. However, it was announced Scherff will likely be signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Vikings will have to look elsewhere for a guard, but a significant signing to the interior of the line is a necessity to keep Kirk upright this coming season.
Get Kirk a Wide Receiver
The Vikings are not exactly needy when it comes to wide receiver. They have one of the best rising stars in the league in Justin Jefferson and one of the best veteran wide receivers in the league in Adam Thielen, not to mention an overachieving late round pick in K.J. Osborn. However, for the Vikings offense to really flourish, this is a strength that the team should try to build on, for several reasons.
First of all, Thielen, as much as we love him, is aging. By the second year of the Cousins contract, Thielen may no longer be the down the field threat he has been for most of his career. The Vikings front office will want to get ahead of the decline of such a productive receiver by bringing in another protégé, most likely through the draft.
However, the Vikings also have the opportunity to sign a plug-and-play player through free agency that could give them an immediate triple threat of Jefferson, Thielen, and one other starting quality receiver, reminiscent of the three deep trio Randy Moss, Cris Carter, and Jake Reed of the late 1990s.
Just today, Adam Schefter reported that the Browns are releasing wide receiver Jarvis Landry.
Landry, or another explosive wide receiver free agent/draft pick like him, could immediately bring the Vikings to the top of the league in terms of offensive firepower.
While this is not, as mentioned earlier, the most popular move in Vikings history, it is not by any means the worst, either. Kirk Cousins has shown that he has the tools to succeed. However, he requires a supporting cast, and his new contract will now allow the front office a little bit of room to go out and try to build that supporting cast around him, starting with free agency and the draft this offseason.
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