Vikings Urged to Extend Kirk Cousins Through 2024 Season

The Minnesota Vikings must figure a way to achieve addition by subtraction this offseason, though a few players are still expected to earn big-money extensions. One such player is Kirk Cousins, who is in position to back into his fourth deal with the Vikings over the last six years. The quarterback's contract extensions have been polarizing each time they've come up, but have also proven the best choice out of a handful of difficult options. Cousins is again in a position to cash in with the Vikings despite a regression in on-field counting statistics in 2022 and heaps of blame for the disappointing and anti-climactic end to the team's home playoff loss to the New York Giants over Wild Card Weekend. ESPN's Kevin Seifert authored what amounted to a pros and cons column on Minnesota's quarterback conundrum on Thursday, February 9. Ultimately, his conclusion was the same one at which the franchise has arrived three times previously over the last five years — sign Cousins, even if doing so again may mean a little pain on the salary cap sheet and an eye roll or two among the Vikings faithful. "The safest decision would be to extend Cousins, even if it means committing to him for 2024, while jump-starting the process of finding the next starter," Seifert wrote. Cousins Has Been Good, Not Great, in Vikings Uniform Cousins is under contract with the Vikings through 2023 after signing a one-year extension for $35 million last offseason. That decision pushed off a long-term call on the quarterback's future for a full year, as new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and new head coach Kevin O'Connell found their footholds in a new organization, each of them entering their respective positions for the first time. The move paid off, depending on perspective, as Minnesota went 13-4 and won the NFC North Division title for the first time since 2017. Cousins was solid late in most of the team's 11 one-score victories during the regular season, though he shrunk in the biggest moment of the year — a fourth-down play with fewer than two minutes to play and down a touchdown against the Giants in the playoffs. Across Cousins' five-year tenure with the organization, the Vikings have won the division just once and made the playoffs only twice, amassing a postseason record of 1-2. The quarterback has earned trips to three Pro Bowls over that span. While Cousins rates out at somewhere between serviceable and above average under center, he will play next season at the age of 35 and has yet to show himself as the type of signal caller who can lead a team on a deep playoff run. But what are the alternatives? "[One] reason to push Cousins' departure date beyond 2023 is the process of finding his replacement. With the No. 23 overall position in the 2023 draft, and a total of four picks at this point, the Vikings are not in a great spot to draft a quarterback they could pencil in as a 2024 starter," Seifert wrote. "The Vikings could trade for a starter if they want to move on from Cousins after the 2023 season, but it is difficult to project whether any available quarterback would represent a substantial upgrade over Cousins." Vikings Expected to Sign Backup QB Nick Mullens For 2023 Minnesota can't reasonably replace Cousins with anyone currently on the roster either, although Nick Mullens is pretty solid as far as backup quarterbacks go. Mullens is currently bound for free agency, though Tyler Forness of USA Today's Vikings Wire believes the former San Francisco 49ers starter will return to Minnesota in 2023. "As long as Kirk Cousins is playing quarterback for the Vikings, the backup isn’t likely to get much playing time," Forness wrote on February 7. "Regardless, having a capable backup like Mullens on the roster [makes sense]." Mullens played in Minnesota last season on a one-year deal worth up to $2 million, though only $1 million was guaranteed. Mullens, who will turn 28 years old in March, has started 17 NFL games over the course of his career, throwing for 5,085 yards, 27 touchdowns and 23 interceptions in a total of 24 appearances, according to Pro Football Reference.

Vikings Urged to Extend 4-Time Pro Bowler Amid Slew of Expected Cuts

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