Getty Kirk Cousins #8 of the Minnesota Vikings.
The Minnesota Vikings may have had their plans spoiled.
Seemingly intent on bringing Kirk Cousins back, but only at their price, the Vikings’ plan of letting Cousins test the market in free agency has led to some frustration.
“I got the sense that, maybe, there was a little frustration that the Vikings have had a long time to try to work out a deal with Kirk,” Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio said on the “Pat McAfee Show” on March 5.
“You get to a certain point where you F around and find out, and you let it go too far down the tracks.
“Even if the Vikings will say, ‘Oh, wait. The Falcons are paying you that? We’ll match it,’ There’s a chance [Cousins’ camp is] going to say, ‘Sorry, you had your chance. They’re showing us love, interest. You’re just showing a begrudging willingness to match what we were able to get from somebody who really wants us so we’re going to go to the place where we think they really want us.”
Florio notably said he got that sense from what he “picked up” in a conversation between his wife and Cousins’ wife during an appearance by the quarterback on his podcast.
He did not say that Cousins himself voiced anything of the sort.
Vikings Free Agent Kirk Cousins Looking for Schools in Atlanta, Jersey Number From Falcons Star
GettyKyle Pitts #8 of the Atlanta Falcons.
“We can’t get into the specifics, for now. But we’re getting very credible indications that Cousins is seriously considering moving his family to Atlanta. Which would mean, obviously, that he’d be signing with the Falcons,” Florio wrote on March 4.
“The Falcons have always been the top alternative to the Vikings for Cousins, who becomes an unrestricted free agent next Wednesday.”
Cousins’ wife, Julie, is from the area and he has multiple ties to the Falcons’ coaching staff.
Falcons running back Bijan Robinson suggested the Falcons when asked where he thought Cousins would play next season. He quickly added that he figured the four-time Pro Bowler would return to Minnesota.
Florio’s comments during his appearance on McAfee’s show will only fuel the speculation ahead of free agency, which begins on March 13.
The early negotiating window opens on March 11.
“You got things coming back to me that I confirm from people, people who would know, that there’s an effort to look for, maybe, schools for the kids, house for the family, up to and including – I haven’t confirmed this part yet, but it’s just one of those little things that make sense – talking to the guy who currently wears No. 8, Kyle Pitts, about getting No. 8.”
Falcons Not Facing Cap Crunch Like Vikings
GettyGeneral manager Kwesi Adolfo-Mensah of the Minnesota Vikings.
Atlanta enters the offseason with $41.6 million in cap space, per Spotrac. That is less than $1 million more than the Vikings have.
However, Minnesota has more question marks on their roster. They could lose their top three edge rushers in free agency this offseason. And Justin Jefferson‘s contract situation looms as large as Cousins’.
The three-time Pro Bowler is poised to reset the market for non-quarterbacks on his next deal.
He will get paid after racking up four straight 1,000-yard seasons to start his career. That includes this past season despite injuries and inconsistent quarterback play beyond Cousins.