Getty Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins
Kirk Cousins paid his lip service in his first press conference since garnering another lucrative, fully guaranteed contract with the Minnesota Vikings — and one analyst called Cousins’ true intentions into question.
After signing a one-year, $35 million contract extension that ties Minnesota to Cousins through 2023 in March, the veteran quarterback justified signing another short-term contract extension, saying he “would like to retire as a Viking.”
“The short answer [for why I signed the contract extension] is, I wanted to be a Minnesota Viking,” Cousins said in a press conference on Monday, April 11. “I wanted to help create some cap space so that we could put together a roster that you do feel really good about. It’s just always trying to find win-wins. I think it was a way to create a win-win, and then hopefully that leads to a lot of wins this fall.
“My mindset was really to be a Viking. I would like to retire as a Viking, and so I would like to play my way into that, if you will. I know I’ve got to earn the right to do that.”
Cousins did provide the 2022 Vikings some cap relief but at the cost of adding void years on his contract. Cousins is due $6.25 million in 2024 and 2025 regardless of whether he remains in Minnesota or not.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio questioned Cousins’ true motivations for staying in purple and gold, calling his most recent extensions money grabs compared to other deals around the league.
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Join Heavy on Vikings!‘I Don’t Buy That’
On Pro Football Talk, Florio called out that Cousins has only taken short-term deals and has given the Vikings little flexibility with his fully-guaranteed contracts over the years. By agreeing to these deals, Minnesota has also come under scrutiny for their willingness to be good, not great.
From Florio:
I don’t buy that because he only does three-year contracts and now he’s got a two-year commitment. If he really wanted to be with the Vikings over the long haul, he would have done something that lasted more than two seasons.
You do surrender the discretion to the team at some point because when we get past the years of any contract it becomes a team-held option. Cousins has always been willing to bet on himself and always been willing to stare down potential free agency, and he will have the flexibility after 2023 to move on if he so chooses. But when you look at Patrick Mahomes, who clearly wants to retire as a Chief by signing a contract into next decade and you got Kirk Cousins doing three, three, two, I don’t know that I’m ready to buy the idea that he’s really intent on retiring with the Vikings and that’s okay.
If his goal is to make as much money as possible, but it feels like it’s to make as much money as possible, not retire with the Vikings.
The Vikings are 33-31-1 since Cousins arrived in 2018 — a record that aligns with Cousins’ 59-59-2 career record as a starter.
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In Defense of Cousins
To Cousins’ credit, he spent the first half of his career in limbo with Washington, receiving franchise tags twice before the Commanders let him walk in free agency, opting to sign Alex Smith as their starting quarterback in 2018 instead.
Minnesota has also been mildly non-committal to Cousins as well. His name has been in the trade rumor mill over the past two seasons and the addition of a no-trade clause to Cousins contract gave truth to the possibility of trade discussions this offseason.
But the Vikings, bringing in a coach in Kevin O’Connell who favors Cousins and attempting to retool its roster and keep many aging veterans, appear to be trying to win now.
Cousins helped the Vikings by providing some cap relief this season. But by helping himself to the highest average annual salary ($35 million) of his career for the 2023 season, Minnesota continues to be hampered in free agency with Cousins’ weight on books.
Whether Cousins is worth that weight will come down to how much O’Connell can get out of the veteran quarterback.
That will determine whether he retires a Viking or not.
I am getting queasy about Kwesi. I know he ain’t lazy but man he is acting crazy. Season will be tough with Captain Kirk throwing from his duff! Oh no, not Udoh and Bradbury, the OL sieve. With the Wilfs in charge the Vikings are a sinking barge tethered to mediocrity.