The Minnesota Vikings and quarterback Kirk Cousins appear to have a better chance than originally imagined of rejoining in 2024.In most cases, an elderly quarterback who suffers a devastating injury during a contract year loses leverage with both his current team and free-agent pursuers. The fact that Josh Dobbs has arrived in Minnesota to great success and accompanying hoopla would normally make Cousins’ situation with the Vikings more precarious than ever.
On Tuesday, November 14, Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report reported team sources that said the opposite.
The Minnesota Vikings and quarterback Kirk Cousins appear to have a better chance than originally imagined of rejoining in 2024.
In most cases, an elderly quarterback who suffers a devastating injury during a contract year loses leverage with both his current team and free-agent pursuers. The fact that Josh Dobbs has arrived in Minnesota to great success and accompanying hoopla would normally make Cousins’ situation with the Vikings more precarious than ever.
On Tuesday, November 14, Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report reported team sources that said the opposite.
Given what has happened with Cousins recently, both he and the Vikings appear to be lot more open to a return in 2024. According to my sources, this may signify a one-year deal. But Cousins’ relationship with not only Kevin O’Connell, but also with the Vikings staff, players, and brass — he’s so well respected within that locker room and really in that city.
For a guy who appeared to be on his way out to a long-term contract somewhere else, it appears like Cousins and the Vikings might — I don’t even want to say repair that marriage because there wasn’t anything to mend, but reignite would be a better word. According to sources, given the relationship they have, the history they have, and how comfortable Kirk is with that organization, within that city, that fan base, that SKOL nation, [the Vikings] could very well have Kirk Cousins back, at least in 2024, rather than him moving on somewhere else.
One of the most important issues in this conversation is Cousins’ Achilles tear and the influence it may have on the type of deal he can make in free agency.
Cousins was on fire in the first half of the season, leading the league in throwing touchdowns. He is 35 years old, but in the post-Tom Brady era, 35 is the new 30. Cousins was on his way to his third consecutive Pro Bowl and could have earned a three-year deal in the nine-figure bracket given the NFL’s scarcity of quarterbacks with whom a team could compete.
After such a terrible injury, the math on all of that changes. However, the leverage it removes from Cousins’ negotiation position may also remove, at least temporarily, the impediments to reaching an agreement.
In either of the previous two offseasons, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah elected not to extend Cousins long-term, adding a year to his deal before of the 2022 season and adding no more money or years the previous offseason. Over the summer, the quarterback offered Minnesota a reduced cost but demanded a multiyear contract, which the Vikings denied.
Earlier this season, Adofo-Mensah stated that a reunion with Cousins was still on the table. Cousins’ health difficulties plus his fondness for the team and city, as indicated by Schultz in his report, make that reunion simpler to arrange. The Vikings were presumably always eager to sign Cousins to a one-year deal worth $25-$30 million in 2024. Cousins’ seventh season in Minnesota is much more possible now that the organization can get the quarterback to agree to that kind of contract.
“We saw how much he means to that team when he goes out, and we saw the impact it had emotionally on a lot of the players inside that locker room — not only the receivers, not only the offense, but defensively as well,” Schultz told ESPN. “I know Josh Dobbs has done an excellent job… but Cousins is still the heartbeat of that franchise.” I think his tenacity symbolizes a lot of what Kevin O’Connell and that club want in their quarterback and in their locker room.”
Minnesota has made significant investments in tight end T.J. Hockenson and is likely to make similar investments in wide receiver Justin Jefferson sooner rather than later (probably no later than the 2024 offseason). With two positionally historic contract extensions looming for pass-catchers and a first-round choice in Jordan Addison who has had a breakout season in his rookie year, the Vikings must take their quarterback decision very seriously.
Dobbs might be a bridge to a healthy Cousins, or he could be a viable answer in his own right. However, during the team’s early-season problems, Jefferson stated his desire to win, and Cousins has been a winner in Minnesota (50-37-1 regular season record).
If the Vikings rejoin with Cousins, they will have a greater chance of cementing their future with Jefferson and their identity as a pass-heavy offensive onslaught that is a nightmare for defenders. And if they can do so on a one-year contract at a reasonable price, there aren’t many compelling reasons to take a different strategy.
