Getty Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins of the Vikings.
Kirk Cousins‘ future with the Minnesota Vikings may hinge on what happens in Green Bay.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been the apex of the NFC North for over a decade, helping Green Bay claim the past three NFC North titles and eight overall since 2008. But after an NFC divisional playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Rodgers may have played his final game in Green Bay.
There will be a power vacuum in the division once Rodgers departs, leaving an opportunity for the Vikings to take over as soon as the 2022 season — and Cousins gives Minnesota the best chance of reclaiming the NFC North thone.
Whether the renewed Vikings regime will take their chances with that potential opportunity remains to be seen. Appearing on the Sportrac podcast, ESPN’s Courtney Cronin speculated on the decision of whether to keep Cousins this season while the situation in Green Bay unravels over the next eight months.
“The window is there. Everyone in the NFC North is eyeing it. Like, ‘Okay, where can we be five years from now if Rodgers leaves ahead of the 2022 season,’ ” Cronin said on the Sportrac podcast. “The Vikings are probably in the most favorable spot of any team that just fired their head coach and general manager. Fourteen of their games this year came by one score. Eight of those games were losses. What do you do to tip that in the other direction?”
Ditching Cousins may not be the answer to that question.
“It feels like they’re right there. They were 8-9. They have a lot they can build on. What’s the first move that GM makes when he comes in, and it feels like the quarterback is going to be ultimately what decides that,” Cronin added.
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Cousins Wants to Stay a Vikings, But Will He Take a Pay Cut?
After the Vikings season finale against the Chicago Bears, Cousins said he “wants to remain a Viking for the rest of my career.”
Cronin speculated that those words may be put to the test when the new general manager arrives.
“I look at his comments that he made the last week of the regular season where twice he was asked about his future and said he wants to be in Minnesota and after the Bears game. If you’re the front office, you say, ‘Come on. You said all these things. This is how we can make it work, so we can build around you.’ He’s been here for four seasons, and he knows that the cap number and what he’s done has limited what this team is able to do as far as getting other free agents in. Is he willing to play ball a little bit more? I think you try to push the envelope with him 100% this offseason to see if he’s willing to do that,” Cronin said.
Cousins’ contract has remained his biggest critique while his play has continued to improve in Minnesota. He carries a $45 million cap hit — including a $35 million fully guaranteed base salary and a $10 million signing bonus — which ranks third among active quarterbacks next season.
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Cousins Could Hit Big Again
A new general manager and head coach will want either financial freedom or to acquire draft capital to rebuild the team’s defense. The Vikings are expected to be $12.2 million over the salary cap this season, per Sportrac. That leaves the team with few options other than to either reach a contract extension and lower Cousins’ cap hit or find a trade suitor who could offer high-value draft picks for the 33-year-old quarterback.
When Cousins reached a two-year, $66 million extension in March 2020, it saved the Vikings $10 million in cap space that season. However, Minnesota has remained hamstrung by Cousins’ contract, which will garner 21.4% of the team’s cap hit if left unchanged in 2022.
And with Cousins playing some of the best football of his career, he may hit another “astronomical” payday again with the Vikings.
“Could they do something like that,” Cronin said of another extension. “Yes. Does it need to be as astronomical as it’s been before? You’d like to say no, but honestly, his stats will back where the market’s going. I caution Vikings fans to brace for something like that in the event that he is going to be here for a while.”