The Minnesota Vikings are hoping to keep their relationship with their franchise quarterback going a little bit longer. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Vikings intend to re-sign impending free-agent quarterback Kirk Cousins this offseason.
The Insiders on @NFLGameDay: A look at some of the QBs who'll get paid this offseason, spotlighting #Vikings free agent QB Kirk Cousins, #Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa, and #Cowboys QB Dak Prescott. pic.twitter.com/HbjdQiKM98
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 11, 2024
Cousins, 35, has been with the Vikings since signing as a free agent in 2018. Across 88 starts, he has amassed a 50-37-1 record and led the team to playoff berths following the 2019 and 2022 seasons. He tore his Achilles in a Week 8 24-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers, ending his season with 2331 passing yards, 18 passing touchdowns, five interceptions, and a 4-4 record.
Cousins is a classic example of the trap teams find themselves in when they settle for merely decent quarterback play. In six seasons with Cousins, the Vikings have one playoff win to their name and have never finished better than eighth in points scored despite rosters loaded with offensive talent. Cousins has thrown passes to a parade of stars in Minnesota, including Pro Bowl wide receivers Justin Jefferson, Stefon Diggs, and Adam Thielen, Pro Bowl tight ends Kyle Rudolph and T.J. Hockenson, and four-time Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook.
That all being said, Cousins hasn't struggled enough to play himself out of a job either: the Vikings have never finished worse than 7-9 or 19th in points scored in any season he started more than 50% of their games. Never bottoming out has kept the Vikings out of range of a truly tantalizing quarterback prospect in the NFL Draft, and clearly superior free-agent options are nearly impossible to come by.
If the Vikings are going to get off the treadmill of mediocrity and become consistent contenders, they'll need better quarterback play than Cousins has provided. They need only look to the Kansas City Chiefs for guidance: the Chiefs compiled a 50-26 record and finished with a winning record for five straight seasons with quarterback Alex Smith, but they correctly surmised that the veteran simply didn't have the ceiling to bring the franchise to the promised land. Despite Smith only being 32 years old at the time, the Chiefs boldly traded up in the 2017 NFL Draft for Texas Tech prospect Patrick Mahomes, groomed him for a year, then moved on from Smith ahead of the 2018 season. Now, the Chiefs find themselves in their fourth Super Bowl in five years. They didn't settle and neither should the Vikings.
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