This is a nauseating conversation, right? We have had this every single season since Kirk Cousins joined the team. Why has this been a constant?
Cousins hasn’t delivered what he was brought to Minnesota to do: win a Super Bowl.
He was thought to be the one player that would put the Vikings over the top and get them past the NFC Championship Game, but they haven’t made it past the divisional round. Heck, they have only made it to the divisional round one time.
The raw stats have always been good but that’s not the issue here. The issues have been far more rooted in situational football and the intangibles Cousins doesn’t possess. Those talks got accelerated when he wouldn’t get the COVID-19 vaccine, essentially splitting the fanbase down the middle.
This season, the Vikings are at a crossroads on how to approach the future. I wrote last week about why the Vikings should trade Cousins. This week, here are five reasons why the Vikings should re-sign Cousins.
Salary Cap
While most quarterbacks are excited about signing long-term deals, Cousins is the opposite of that. He has always preferred to sign short-term deals to try and maximize the market. While that is somewhat of a risk on his part, Cousins has had more opportunities to maximize his market value.
The Vikings have already done this twice with Cousins. They signed him to a two-year, $66 million extension in March of 2020 and a one-year, $35 million extension this past March, both of which were to keep Cousins in purple and gold but also to lessen the impact on the salary cap for the coming year.
His cap hit for 2023 is set at $36.25 million but they can do a lot to lessen the salary cap. Cousins has a base salary of $10 million and is due a roster bonus of $20 million. With either an extension or a simple restructure, the Vikings could significantly lessen the cap hit for 2023 and keep continuity at quarterback.
Growth
The Vikings’ offense this past season showed significant growth, especially in the passing game. One of the issues that the Vikings had in the passing game was checking down too much in key situations. Under head coach Kevin O’Connell, he got Cousins to throw the ball down the field in situations that he normally would have checked it down. If O’Connell was able to extract that from the conservative Cousins in year one, what will he be able to get from him next year without having to install the offense?
Continuity
One of the things that cannot be understated enough is team chemistry. The on-field relationship that the quarterback has with his receivers is extremely important.
The NFL is a game of inches and milliseconds. Having chemistry with where the route is going to be run and ball placement to maximize the limited space allowed to you in the league is paramount for success.
Cousins has built chemistry with Justin Jefferson and T.J. Hockenson to where they know where the ball needs to go and where to be. That kind of chemistry is special and it makes all the sense in the world to continue with it.
Trade value
If the Vikings were to move on from Cousins, they will have to trade him. All the money on Cousins’ contract is fully guaranteed which would make releasing him very expensive. It would incur a $48.75 million dead cap hit while his cap hit is only $36.25 million.
At 35 years old next season, Cousins’ trade value isn’t exactly at its highest. Derek Carr is in a similar position to Cousins in both talent and age and could potentially only get a third-round pick. Would Cousins fetch the same price? He’s likely getting a similar price and it wouldn’t be responsible to dump Cousins without a plan in place.
Quarterback class
If you are going to move on from Cousins, you will need to have another plan in place at the position. The Vikings have a great infrastructure on offense and you don’t want to just find someone in free agency to play the position. You would want to have a succession plan.
The problem for the Vikings is it would be unlikely for them to find that this season. The Vikings only have four draft picks currently and that number could move up to five or six pick with compensatory selections. The top four quarterbacks are all likely to go in the top ten with potentially only Anthony Richardson falling out of there. Even if he does, it would take a lot for the Vikings to move up and get him. Would it be worth it? Sure, but I don’t see it being plausible.
