Minnesota Vikings rookie safety Jakobe Thomas laid claim to the No. 8 jersey during his first season and had new/old quarterback Kirk Cousins at his mercy following Cousins’ trade back to the franchise.
Money sometimes changes hands between players as part of jersey transactions. And while Thomas is just 23 and playing on a $7 million third-round rookie contract, Cousins’ career earnings total just over $333 million, with another $10 million guaranteed to come his way in 2027. That means as of this season, Cousins is the third-richest player in NFL history behind only Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford.
Given that context and Thomas’s leverage, what did the young defender ask of his new teammate who wanted his old number back? Nothing at all.
“No money needed,” Thomas said Thursday, November 12, per Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune. “I just need him to come here and win games. A lot of fans have his jersey anyway, so they could pull him out of the closet and put him back on. So that’s all it is. Kirko’s got a lot more memories and history in that number than I do, and it’s rightfully his. So I just gave it back to [its] rightful owner.”
Kirk Cousins Must Scramble to Get Up to Speed on Vikings Offense
With his jersey number taken care of, Cousins is free to get down to the business of re-acclimating himself with head coach Kevin O’Connell’s offense, from which the quarterback separated roughly two and a half seasons ago.
Cousins acknowledged the challenge he is facing in his opening press conference in Minnesota earlier this week.
“We’re diving in and gonna make the most use of our time,” Cousins said Wednesday. “I remember when we traded for TJ [Hockenson] in 2022 and thinking I didn’t envy him at that time, you know, how much he had to do and how much he had to get caught up on and the effort the coaches put in to help him. And I find myself in a similar role today.”
Vikings Intend to Start Kirk Cousins in Green Bay, as Kyler Murray, Carson Wentz Battle Injury
O’Connell told reporters on the same day that while the team’s intent is to start Cousins in Green Bay, he could not commit to the certainty that the quarterback would be ready in time.
“Kevin O’Connell said ‘it’s still too early to commit wholeheartedly to what the plan looks like’ at QB for the Vikings on Sunday,” Goessling reported Wednesday. “He said he’s excited about ‘spending every moment between now and then’ to get Kirk Cousins comfortable enough to play. ‘That’s what we’re working toward.’”
Minnesota may have no choice but to start Cousins, even if the team isn’t sure he’s all the way up to speed. Kyler Murray missed a second straight day of practice this week on Thursday with his hamstring injury, while Carson Wentz was limited for the second consecutive session with an ankle issue, per the team’s official injury report.
Vikings’ Rookie Jakobe Thomas Reveals Price for Kirk Cousins’ No. 8 Jersey