Report: The Vikings Likely Won’t Give Kirk Cousins Another 1-Year Extension
Josh Frey
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Once again, one of the main Vikings offseason storylines revolves around their starting quarterback Kirk Cousins and his contract. Many different possibilities have been discussed throughout Vikings media over the past few weeks and months in regards to Cousins. Could the Vikings trade him? Will they let him play out the final year of his contract? Will they give him another extension?
Well, according to a report by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, it doesn’t appear that the Vikings will give Cousins another 1-year extension.
“I would not anticipate that there’s another one-year extension here. Either the Vikings and Kirk Cousins do a long-term extension that locks him up as their franchise quarterback, or potentially they keep their options open and let Cousins play out this existing deal,” said Pelissero.
Keep in mind, this doesn’t eliminate the possibility of the Vikings giving Cousins a contract extension. It just won’t be a deal that adds only one year to his deal like we saw last offseason. Instead, this potential extension probably would land in the area of three or four years, ensuring that Cousins gets his wish of finishing his career as a Viking.
On the other hand, there is also the possibility that Minnesota just lets Cousins play out the final year of his contract, and after the 2023 season, the two sides could go their separate ways. The argument has been made that Cousins’ cap hits make it more difficult to put a winning roster around him, and that won’t be helped with potentially market-resetting contract extensions for Justin Jefferson and Christian Darrisaw in the next couple years.
If you want my own opinion, I think that the best option for the Vikings would be to let Cousins play out their contract and have him enter free agency in 2024. This doesn’t eliminate the possibility of bringing him back for that season, but it does allow the Vikings to keep their options open at the quarterback position.
The Vikings could select a QB in the 2023 Draft, and by giving that prospect a chance to sit behind Cousins and learn Kevin O’Connell’s offense, he could be ready to go for the 2024 season.
The only way that a long-term extension for a soon-to-be 35-year-old quarterback makes sense is if it comes with more financial flexibility than Cousins has been willing to give in the past. His extension that he signed prior to the 2022 season gave him a full $35 million for the 2023 season.
For me to be in favor of a longer term Cousins contract, his annual contract value would have to come down to about $25 million, especially considering that there is the inevitability that Father Time will eventually cause his production to come down.
It certainly will be interesting to see how the Vikings approach this offseason at the quarterback position, but this report seems to take out the idea of Minnesota middling between getting rid of Cousins and committing to him for years to come. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell will either be all-in or all-out on Cousins in the next calendar year.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.