A new report strongly indicates that the Minnesota Vikings are getting ready to move on from veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins.
The 34-year-old Cousins is entering the final year of his contract. He reportedly sought an extension from the reigning NFC North division champions, but the Vikings apparently aren’t keen on going down that road.
Speaking on the “Access Vikings” podcast (h/t Eric Strack of MinnesotaSportsFan.com), Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune reported that Cousins offered to shorten his cap number for the 2023 season if Minnesota would extend his contract, but they declined:
“I had also heard that he wasn’t asking for $40 [million). He wasn’t asking for that much, in terms of what Daniel Jones got, who is obviously much younger but much less accomplished. Cousins’ camp was kind of surprised I guess, from what I heard, at the Vikings not jumping or at least accepting what they were asking for.“
In the 2018 offseason, the Vikings handed Cousins a three-year deal worth a fully guaranteed $84 million. Two months after picking up his first playoff win (against the New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card Round), Cousins earned a two-year extension worth $66 million.
And then last year, the Vikings handed the former Washington quarterback a one-year extension worth $35 million. But here we are a year later, and it looks like the Vikings may be planning for life without Cousins.
The Vikings hold the No. 23 selection in next month’s NFL Draft, so the opportunity is there to get a new franchise quarterback if they want to. If the front office is keen on finding a new QB, they could even look to trade up for one.
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A four-time Pro Bowler, Cousins has gone 46-33-1 as the Vikings’ starting quarterback. Despite strong regular season statistics, Cousins has only gotten Minnesota to the playoffs twice in five seasons. As previously mentioned, he just has the one playoff win.
Fair or not, Cousins’ tenure will continue to be judged by his playoff success or lack thereof. It’s not far-fetched to say that he’ll need to lead Minnesota on a deep run next season to buy himself more time in The Gopher State.
