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While the outlook of the rest of the Vikings’ season is low, the stakes are contrarily rising for quarterback Kirk Cousins. Cousins, coming off the best season of his career in 2019, was expected to take another step forward and lead eight returning starters on offense through a season where they would shoulder a return to the playoffs.
Cousins is fighting for his future with the team that has continued to express its support in the 32-year-old quarterback after a 1-5 start and a league-leading 10 interceptions this season.
Cousins, who confessed he “won’t finish the season” as the starter if he continues to commit turnovers, suggested the Vikings and him are “fine.” Meanwhile, the ship is sinking.
“Teammates have always been supportive. I don’t know if we’re in a place where they feel the need to come console me, ” he said. “I think we’re doing just fine.”
While acknowledging his questionable job security, Cousins spoke with a lack of urgency as the next few weeks could tip the scales at where his future stands with the team, starting with Sunday’s game against the Packers.
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Cousins’ Job on the Line
GettyKirk Cousins has had a rollercoaster year so far this season and, if he cannot find consistency, could be out a job.
General manager Rick Spielman said he doesn’t think anybody “has lost faith” in Cousins and has not committed to calling the 2020 season a rebuild year — even after trading Yannick Ngakoue to the Ravens. Dalvin Cook echoed the same sentiment, saying players support Cousins “1000%.”
While Spielman said that trading Yannick Ngakoue to the Ravens was no indication that the Vikings have given up on the season, it does support that the Vikings defense will not be asked to win games anytime soon amid an introduction of seven new starters and a slew of first-time contributors.
Cousins will continue to try to guide the Vikings offense in the right direction after its mirages of success this season. In Weeks 3-5, the Vikings shined with a complementary attack, averaging 196 rushing yards per game while Cousins threw a respectable 253 passing yards per game, six touchdowns and three interceptions.
That stretch has helped the Vikings’ offensive weapons climb to notoriety. Adam Thielen leads the league with seven touchdowns. Rookie Justin Jefferson is averaging the sixth-most receiving yards and running back Dalvin Cook has produced on average the second-highest rushing yards per game (97.8).
“We know what we can do when at our best and I think we’ve shown that with explosive plays and moving the football and getting a lot of guys involved — both running the ball and throwing the ball — we know we can get back to that but what we have to do is do it consistently,” Cousins said.
Thielen, Jefferson and Cook’s success won’t secure any wins if they only produce in garbage time. To start securing wins, and his 2022 salary, Cousins will need to keep the ball away from the opposition.
“It’s business as usual. You gotta go back to work,” Cousins said. “You want to get it corrected, you want to finish the year in a much different place so I look forward to this stretch up ahead of trying to play at such a level that it’s a much different story as we finish the season than how we started.”
Vikings Could Go Broke By Keeping Cousins
If Cousins does not recover from his brutal start to the season, the Vikings may consider benching him and ultimately move on without him and declare a commitment to the rebuild.
The Vikings would eat $20 million in dead cap if they trade him or $31 million if they decide to cut him.
If they do neither before June 1, the Vikings will be on the hook for an additional $35 million in 2022, further sinking the franchise in a financial hole that could force several of the team’s other prospects out.
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Trevor Squire is a Heavy contributor covering the Minnesota Vikings and journalism graduate from the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities. Connect with him on Twitter @trevordsquire and join our Vikings community at Heavy on Vikings on Facebook.