Washington Post: Cousins Would be a “Fool” NOT to Sign in Minny… I Couldn’t Agree More

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Mar 9, 2018
Image Courtesy of SBNation

Breaking News: Kirk Cousins is going to be a Free Agent and the Vikings are not only in the running as a potential landing spot, but is looking like the team that he’ll more likely than not end up playing for! Cough.

I know. I’m sure that most of you, even the most ardent of Kirk Cousins supporters, are getting tired of seeing all the “Will he/Won’t he/Should he/Should WE?” Cousins related posts that are filling basically every Vikings related resource. So, the good news is that with the free agency period starting next week, we’ll get an answer as to whether or not Cousins will end up as the quarterback for the Vikings in 2018 and beyond, how much it cost for them to acquire him and also what it means for the rest of the team (and it’s players). While nothing has been set in stone, obviously, it’s seeming more and more with each passing day that Cousins will, in fact, end up as the Vikings quarterback, something that the other teams that are in the market for Cousins have been said to understand/fear this week (in terms of both the Jets and Broncos believing that Cousins has made up his mind and that he wants to play in Minnesota).

Beyond that, though, there’s the Washington Post, the hometown paper for his soon-to-be previous team in the Redskins, stating earlier this week that Cousins would be “foolish” if he chose any team but Minnesota. As a Vikings fan and a big Cousins supporter all of this almost seems too good to be true, and because it excites me to the point of near-delusion, I thought I’d share what the Post said as a way to sate the thirst of my fellow Cousin-ites until things get confirmed next week (knock on wood) along with some random thoughts on what this means for the team (and for meeeeeeeee).

The article, written by Rick Snider, is headlined: “Finally free, Kirk Cousins is a fool if he signs anywhere but Minnesota”. I couldn’t actually agree more, as I’ve stated that even if he took a few million less per season to play here he could even end up making more money in the long-run as he has a much better chance of being successful and landing elite-level money until he retires by coming here, as opposed to the alternative, which could send him to a team that’s about 10 other players on offense away from contending. The NFL’s contracts really stretch the definition of the word contract and it wouldn’t be unheard of for a team like the Jets to cut Cousins in a couple years if they feel they’re still far from contending and want to start fresh (especially considering the fact that Cousins will be 30 soon). With that in mind, the Post article states:

If Cousins holds true to his long-running mantra that money isn’t everything, and the potential to win a Super Bowl is of equal importance, then Minnesota is far and away his best choice.

While I wasn’t aware that was his mantra, I did feel like Cousins would welcome the opportunity to shed the label of not being a “Winner” that a lot of his naysayers have used in their anti-Cousins rants and by coming to Minnesota, he’s basically joining as good of an “on-paper” team as is possible. Not unlike the 2009 Vikings, the 2018 Vikings are just a decent quarterback away from a title shot, as they showed last season and especially with the level of talent that’ll be surrounding him here, Cousins is going to be a lot better than just “decent”. While he started out strong, 2017 Vikings QB Case Keenum basically played good, but not great, and thanks to the talent around him (and on the other side of the ball) the Vikings were a game away from a home Super Bowl. It’s hard not to get all frothy thinking about what Cousins would do with the receivers this team has, with Dalvin Cook and Latavius Murray sharing the rock and with more improvements to the offensive line thanks to the draft and perhaps free agency.

It’s just so relieving and out of character for the Vikings (at least the pre-Wilf Vikings) to make moves like this. This is a team that made it to the NFC Championship and could’ve easily just looked inward for their quarterback (and offensive coordinator), but they realize that things in the NFL change wildly from year to year and there’s no guarantee that the Vikings would repeat any of their successes from 2017 this year, especially with Aaron Rodgers returning for the Packers and Carson Wentz returning in Philly. By bringing in Cousins, the Vikings are showing that they’re not satisfied with those accomplishments from last season and that they’re still willing to go all-in to accomplish their goals and reward this fanbase with the first Super Bowl in franchise history. Even if it doesn’t end up working out, the fact that they’re willing to invest in this team after us fans had to deal with Red McCombs and his penny-pinching nonsense, means a lot.

The fact that Cousins is seemingly willing to take less money to come here shows that he’s a smart guy that has his priorities in the right spot. Sure, football is a business and especially with what we’re learning about the long-term effects of the sport, you can’t fault guys that attempt to maximize their earnings during the few years that they can. However, you have to admit that it’s really awesome that a guy is (reportedly) willing to do what Cousins is going to do, if that doesn’t endear him to the fans here, then I guess he’ll just have to wait until he brings the team to the Super Bowl. That’s the obvious goal here and like the move for Sam Bradford last off-season, it’s a clear signal from the Vikings management that this team understands that its window to win is open right now and it’s clear that that’s the sentiment around the league as is obvious with the Cousins talk. I’m really surprised that this is happening, mainly because I’m not used to good things, or things that I really want, happening with this team (or in my life).

As a Cousins guy, I can’t help but be really, really excited about this move (if you hadn’t noticed). I’ve made my allegiance to Cousins clear through the course of the purpleJOURNAL Podcast, even before he was even close to the Vikings radar, as I’ve been raised to blindly follow the Big Ten and because of that I was familiar with Cousins at Michigan State and during his time as a back-up to RGIII. The fact that he’s joining the Vikings seems like some sort of fever dream that I’ve had after playing Madden and while it makes a lot of sense, I still find it hard to believe. But, removing my anxieties and being able to (almost) talk about this as a foregone conclusion (the fellas on the Power Trip this morning all gave the chances of Cousins coming here a 99%), it definitely makes a lot more sense than I was giving the situation credit for a few weeks ago. I mean, what quarterback wouldn’t love to come into a team that’s just “them” away from a title?

The Washington Post article explains;

Minnesota makes perfect sense. The Vikings let all three of their QBs from last year hit the market. Strangely, they decided against re-signing Case Keenum, who went 12-4 as a starter last season.

The Vikings still could re-sign Case Keenum, but it was clear last season that the powers that be on the Vikings were never completely sold on him. Whether it was the Bradford/Bears fiasco or the comments that Zimmer made… All season (“He hasn’t lost games for us”…) and especially in the playoffs (discussing why Bradford was on the roster over Teddy by stating that he’d put in Bradford if the team ended up down by X points as he was a better “pure passer”) showed that. Any other year and the Vikings probably would’ve gone with Keenum next season (depending on how comfortable they were with Teddy’s injury and whether or not Teddy had peaked) but for once, the stars aligned and all the bad things that have happened to the Vikings have lined up perfectly with what the Post article calls a “Unicorn”.

Beyond Keenum, it was also clear that the team might’ve been moving away from Teddy Bridgewater during the post-season when he was left off the roster for Sam Bradford. A lot was made about that move at the time and while it was explained away (as not meaning as much as people were reading into it because of Bradford’s familiarity with Shurmur’s scheme, etc.), it’s clear that the team either wasn’t sure that Teddy’s leg would hold up or weren’t as enamored with him as Zimmer appeared to be during press conferences in 2014/2015. I’ve never been a Teddy guy, but I do want him to succeed wherever he ends up, however, his throwing motion is something that I think will limit his career and while he could end up as a good-to-great game manager, I don’t think he’ll ever be the superstar that some thought he’d be before the 2014 draft (or at least before his pro day).

That leaves Bradford, who I was an outspoken defender of. While this team has shown that it needs a quarterback that can evade pressure, that doesn’t always mean that it needs someone who can run a 4.4. Statue-esque QB’s like Tom Brady (who ran like a 9.3) get rid of the ball quickly, and while Bradford wasn’t exactly Brady he wasn’t the most mobile guy ever. That was the big debate between Bradford and Teddy or Keenum, whether you’d take a deep ball and a pocket passer over a guy with a limited arm and mobility. I’d take the former everytime and one of the first arguments I made for Cousins was that he was basically a slightly younger, more durable and mobile version of Bradford (he’s had 13 rushing touchdowns in his three seasons as a starter, for example, and has picked up over 40 first downs as a runner). Just check out this list of stats from KFAN/Fanball’s Paul Charchian, it should sell you on Cousins but I bring it up because of the stats regarding his mobility. That’s a huge plus for a team that’s got work to do on at the offensive line position. Speaking of Bradford (and that list by Charch), Cousins is also the third most accurate passer the past three seasons behind Drew Brees and Sam Bradford.

The fact that he’s available should just show you that the ‘Skins are the worst run team in the NFL (and not that Cousins has some secret drinking problem, or something , althought that could explain the “YOU LIKE THAT!” quote). The Post piece says:

A quarterback in his prime is a unicorn in the free agent market, and he’ll command a historic sum. If Cousins is telling the truth about his priorities, he should pick the best contender — and that’s Minnesota.

That’s true. It’s been said that the fact that Cousins is available in free agency is a once in a generation opportunity. That’s not something that happens to the Vikings and because of that I still find it hard to believe that he’ll end up here next season. But, it’s really looking like that’s going to be the case and if the fears of the other teams in contention are any sign, we could know his decision sooner rather than later next week. While he has said that he wants to visit every team in a sort of college recruit tour, he may just meet with the Vikings and another team (for leverage) if he’s made up his mind already. On a side note, I was really down after the NFC Championship game and felt like it’d be really hard for me to get emotionally invested in this Vikings team again next season and I do feel like this move will immediately put that excitement and love in my heart (and eventually in my brain when it dislodges from my aorta and gives me a massive stroke) and that’s because I really do feel like Cousins is a lot better than the other QB’s the Vikings had on roster in 2017, even more so than my previous man-crush in Sam Bradford (not solely because of his durability), and really better than any quarterback this team has had in my lifetime and it’s coming at the exact perfect time for this team to acquire its first franchise QB under-30 since early Culpepper or Fran Tarkenton. The stars are aligning and it’s just so awesome as a fan first and a writer second. Call this hyperbolic if you want, but with Cousins under center next season I’ll dare say that this is the most balanced and top-to-bottom stacked Vikings team I’ll ever have the pleasure of watching.

As mentioned a few times above, Paul Charchian of KFAN and other ventures put up a list of stats meant to basically shoot down a lot of the narratives that the anti-Cousins crowd has been arguing and the one that stood out to me the most was the record that the Redskins/Cousins would’ve had if the Redskins defense was simply average. As mentioned above, one of the narratives used to bash Cousins is that he isn’t a “Winner” and that his stats are basically just fluff that clearly didn’t mean much as his teams always finished around 8-8 despite his nearly 5,000 yard season in 2016 and his near 3:1 total touchdown to interception ratio over the three years that he’s started in the NFL. Charch points out that if those teams allowed the average amount of points (so the points for the 16th best defense in the league, per year) then those teams would have all had a minimum of 13 wins. So, if you combine that with the fact that the Vikings had the best overall defense in 2017 (and also the talent that will surround him on offense, which will make the players he had around him in 2016 look like an Arena Football team), then you get where my excitement comes from. He’s also a lot more clutch than he gets credit for, with 11 game winning drives in three seasons, as well.

That’s not to say that he’s perfect, but so far he’s doing all the right things that will eventually make all Vikings fans love him. How many of us are all too familiar with a Vikings team that would take a free agent to Manny’s only to see them leave and sign elsewhere? Sure, it’s not as bad as the Timberwolves’ free agency woes, but Minnesota is one of the more invisible states in the union that has a pretty iffy reputation in terms of people wanting to move/live/work here (mostly based on weather, and those untrustworthy Scandanavians), so the fact that we’re beating out New York and Denver, is worth noting as well. That also means that I’ll be held accountable for that POV on the site and on our Podcast (as the other hosts in Joe Oberle and Luke Braun are both against the move, for varying reasons, and in varying levels), but considering the alternative, I couldn’t be happier that that’s the position we’ll be in next season.

That is, of course, unless Cousins is a fool.

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