Getty Quarterback Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings.
The Minnesota Vikings considered a future without Kirk Cousins when they broke off from the negotiating table and sent the veteran quarterback into a contract year this summer.
However, after eight games, that future became a reality, with Cousins suffering a season-ending Achilles injury on October 29. Cousins was playing some of the best football of his career up to that point. But poised to enter next season at the age of 36 and coming off a hamstring injury, Cousins’ market this offseason is considered moot by many analysts.
But that may make keeping him in Minnesota easier— even with Josh Dobbs flashing the Vikings offense’s potential with a mobile quarterback, scoring a season-high 31 points in a comeback win over the Falcons on Sunday.
KSTP’s Darren Wolfson took the temperature of the Vikings’ future at quarterback and said he believes there’s a “better chance” that Cousins re-signs with the Vikings in the offseason than there was before his injury.
“I still think there’s a better chance today than there was two Sundays mornings ago (before Cousins’ injury) that Kirk Cousins is this team’s quarterback Week 1 next year,” Wolfson said on a November 7 episode of SKOR North’s “Mackey and Judd” podcast.
Wolfson added that, like last spring, there is interest in adding a young, first-round prospect, to the roster, but allowing him to develop behind Cousins.
“I think there’s a better chance today than there was two Sunday mornings ago that Kirk Cousins is back” 👀
– @DWolfsonKSTP on the direction that the #Vikings will go at QB in 2024
Vikings Express Interest in Bringing Kirk Cousins Back, But There’s a Catch
GettyQuarterback Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings.
The new Vikings regime that inherited Cousins came forward in support of the four-time Pro Bowl quarterback after his injury.
Kevin O’Connell made his hopes that Cousins is back with the Vikings heard the Tuesday following Cousins’ injury.
“Kirk Cousins is going to be healthy again,” O’Connell said, per NBC Sports. “I know he’s going to be a free agent after this season, but Kirk knows how I feel about him and that will be something, you know, that hopefully will work itself out. . . . You guys know how I feel about Kirk. Kirk knows how I feel about Kirk. I think he was playing as well as anybody in the National Football League.”
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah echoed his support for Cousins but acknowledged that his personal desire to keep Cousins does not supersede what is best for the organization.
“Kirk played great,” Adofo-Mensah said in a news conference after acquiring Dobbs, per the Star Tribune. “I think my want for Kirk to come back isn’t just a me thing. It’s a negotiation. You come together at the table, and you try and see if everything works together, and we’ll have that dialogue when the time comes.”
The Vikings have drawn a line in the sand with numerous veterans over the past two seasons and have not caved to overpaying or restructuring player contracts that could harm their plans for the future.
Adofo-Mensah said every opportunity Cousins had available at the beginning of the season is still on the table. It will come down to whether Cousins is willing to accept those terms after the Vikings didn’t budge last summer.
Vikings Will Weigh Their Options With Trial Runs of Dobbs, Hall
GettyJosh Dobbs
Cousins’ injury is unfortunate, make no mistake. But it also gives the Vikings a chance to see if they have something in fifth-round rookie Jaren Hall or Dobbs.
Dobbs would need to be re-signed if Minnesota is interested in having him back, while Hall is under contract through 2027.
Either quarterback could potentially serve as a starter while the Vikings develop a first-round prospect they could select in the upcoming draft.
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Vikings Predicted to Make Move on Kirk Cousins After Dobbs Win