If Kirk Cousins starts all 17 of the Vikings' regular-season games this fall, he will tie Daunte Culpepper for the third-most starts by a quarterback in team history.
He reiterated Monday he wants to be with the team long enough to put his name even higher on that list.
Speaking to reporters on Monday for the first time since he signed his one-year contract extension on March 14, Cousins said he wants to retire with the team that first signed him in 2018. Though his name surfaced in some trade chatter this offseason, Cousins' relationship with new coach Kevin O'Connell suggested he could remain in the Vikings' plans. He said Monday his goal through the entire negotiation process was to stay with the team.
"The short answer [for why I signed the contract extension] is, I wanted to be a Minnesota Viking," Cousins said. "I wanted to help create some cap space so that we could put together a roster that you do feel really good about. It's just always trying to find win-wins. I think it was a way to create a win-win, and then hopefully that leads to a lot of wins this fall."
"My mind-set was really to be a Viking. I would like to retire as a Viking, and so I would like to play my way into that, if you will. I know I've got to earn the right to do that."
Cousins' new deal runs through the 2023 season and gives him a no-trade clause. The Vikings put void years for 2024 and 2025 in the deal to spread out the cap hits from Cousins' $25 million signing bonus, but he would be a free agent after 2023 under the terms of the current contract.
He'd be 35 at that point, meaning he could need another contract to meet his goal of retiring as a Viking. Cousins said Monday he understands he'll have to play well enough to make that happen.
"If I could draw it up, it'd be, 'Play well enough that you never have to play or wear another jersey anywhere else,'" Cousins said. "I'm going to work really hard to try to make that possible."
