Kirk Cousins is Playing His Hand Perfectly
Everything’s coming up Milhouse, Andy Dufresne crawled through 500 yards of smelly foulness and came out clean on the other side, and Kirk Cousins somehow tears an Achilles and starts looking better than ever.
The seldom-injured quarterback has proven to be a shrewd businessman over the years. The Sunday Night Football game brought further evidence of that reality.
Back in the day, Washington lowballed him, so Cousins worked his way through the franchise tags (don’t miss the multiple: tags) before heading to the open market. Once there, he leveraged the offer from the New York Jets to secure large, fully-guaranteed money from the Vikings. He has gone on to redo that deal a pair of times, securing a hearty portion of guaranteed cash in the process.
Lately, there has been no shortage of speculation about what could happen going into next season. He’s operating on the final year of his deal (as you may have heard a time or two) and yet he’s also working through a major injury.
Does he have a future in Minnesota? The SNF tilt inserted a crucial piece of new info into the mix for Mr. Cousins.
Kirk Cousins and The Art of the NFL Deal
Kirk Cousins has been consistent in his desire to stick around Minnesota, but there was a fascinating tidbit that emerged on Sunday Night Football.
During the game broadcast, NBC’s Melissa Stark revealed that Cousins’ plan is to be running by February. He plans on getting video of his movements so that he can circulate the film to teams ahead of free agency. Clearly, Cousins isn’t going to just accept whatever offer Kwesi Adofo-Mensah puts in front of him. Clearly, Cousins doesn’t mind publicly broadcasting that he’ll be flirting with interested NFL teams in free agency.
Step back and consider the timing, folks.
The Vikings were in the midst of working through the wreckage of a third QB benching in a four-game span. Joshua Dobbs got benched during Week 14, Nick Mullens got benched after Week 16, and Jaren Hall got benched during Week 17. Against that benching backdrop and alongside no shortage of Cris Collinsworth praise for Jordan Love, the Cousins news drops that he’ll be doing his due diligence when it comes to testing the market. Collinsworth and Mike Tirico even spent some time discussing the veteran’s importance to Minnesota and where his future contract will land monetarily.
A shrewd businessman, indeed.
Of course, many will think of what happened before the game. A shirtless Cousins, with the help of his son, fired up the Skol chant before blowing the Gjallarhorn. At no point has Cousins ever been more popular in Minnesota, largely due to his bling and shirtlessness (which is to say nothing of how poorly his replacements have been playing).
What we have, then, is a QB who was playing at a top-10 (top-5?) level before succumbing to injury. There’s increasingly widespread support for him among the roster and the fans. The offense, which is loaded with skill, has struggled to get off the ground without him flying the plane.
Add it all together and Cousins comes out looking pretty good, doesn’t he? Firing up the free agency flirtations may cause some handwringing in Eagan.
Now, the Vikings aren’t entirely without leverage. The draft still does boast a ton of talent and there is cap room aplenty within the purple budget. Some intriguing options — Kyler Murray, Justin Fields, etc. — could be available on the trade market, meaning Minnesota isn’t in a situation where they absolutely must meet Cousins’ contract number.
Nevertheless, the most obvious solution remains: bringing Kirk Cousins back is very likely the best move if the goal is to be competitive in 2024.
Kirk Cousins will be 36 in August and he’s coming off a major injury. Even still, there’s good reason to believe that he’ll continue operating at a high level. Cousins was legitimately playing the best football of his career before his Achilles tear. Being able to digest the season in a purely intellectual manner is going to pay dividends for a player whose best asset is his brain. Do Kevin O’Connell, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, and the rest of the Vikings’ leadership thus make it a priority to sign him to a two- or three-year deal?
Before going down, Cousins was completing 69.5% of his passes. He was up to 2,331 yards, 18 TDs, and 5 INTs. As long as there are no major setbacks, Cousins should be fully healthy in time for next season.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
Saturday Night Threw Salt in the Wound for Vikings
K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.