Cousins, Vikings have “Mutual Interest” per Former Cowboys VP. of Player Personnel
Joe Johnson
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If you’ve listened to the purpleJOURNAL Podcast the past few weeks or even if you’ve skimmed the articles that I’ve written, you’d know that I’m heavily in favor of the Vikings going after Kirk Cousins this off-season. The 29-year-old quarterback is one of the best in the league (stats-wise, or blanket stats-wise, anyway) the past three seasons and is a “once in a generation” type talent to hit free agency as a quarterback and could bring the high-level stability that the Vikings (and their fans) have wanted really since Fran Tarkenton retired. The problem in the Vikings landing him comes from his assumed cost, as he is set to land the largest contract in NFL history, supplanting the deal signed by recent five-game winner Jimmy Garappolo in San Francisco. However, there is increasing rumbling around the NFL (from people more in the know than I) that Cousins would rather land with a contender (and make a ton of money) vs. making the max amount on a bad team. Most of that has come in Tweet form, as is the reality of covering the NFL in 2018, but still, the people behind those statements have merit.
One of the main Tweets people are latching onto today comes from Gil Brandt, former VP of Player Personnel for the Dallas Cowboys back around the Hershel Walker trade days, he said:
If I were a betting man, I'd say that's where he lands. Certainly interest on both sides. https://t.co/yAsfoZwssT
— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) February 26, 2018
Now, the opening line “If I were a betting man” makes you believe that this is mostly his opinion. As a Vikings fan I know better (despite all the evidence to the contrary) than to get all excited about the Tweet of one former NFL executive. Granted, he was at least an executive for a team that plays in the same conference as Cousins’ soon-to-be former team (depending on what happens with that pesky franchise tag). Beyond Brandt, though, there are people talking about Cousins’ desire to join a contender, which makes a lot of sense considering all the flack he’s been given his entire career, but especially recently about his “win-loss” record and whether or not he’s a “winner”.
This is an exciting development though, as it was already clear that Cousins was interested in coming to Minnesota at least if “all things were equal” in terms of pay. New Vikings offensive coordinator John DeFilippo has also spoken kindly about Cousins, although he’s really spoken kindly about every player he’s been asked about. So, for now, we have to wait. The market is still taking shape and while the Jets reportedly will give Cousins whatever he wants in terms of money, there’s still the Denver Bronco angle out there. A lot of the headlines that broke after the Brandt news stated that the Vikings were waiting for a deal with the Broncos, without the writers really following up on it much. I believe the Vikings are waiting to see what the Broncos offer for Cousins in order to see if they can offer the same, more or if they need to walk.
With the combine coming up and all the NFL execs being in close proximity to one another, we could hear a lot more about this. So, stay tuned to purplePTSD for the move that could split this site right down the middle for the rest of the off-season and the 2018, 2019 and at least 2020, 2021 and maybe 2022 seasons!