The Vikings’ desire to add competition for quarterback J.J. McCarthy could lead them back to old friend Kirk Cousins. With the Falcons expected to release Cousins in the next few weeks, he could be free to sign anywhere soon.
There is “growing sentiment” among NFL executives in the QB market that Cousins will rejoin the Vikings, Jason La Canfora of SportsBoom reports. The move would reunite the 37-year-old with head coach Kevin O’Connell, who had success with Cousins in the past.
In 2022, the Vikings’ first season under O’Connell, Cousins threw for 4,547 yards and 29 touchdowns on his way his fourth and most recent Pro Bowl nod. The Vikings went 13-4 and won the NFC North, but a 9-7-1 Giants team upended them in the wild-card round.
Statistically, Cousins got off to an even better start in 2023. However, a Week 8 Achilles tear wound up ending his Vikings tenure.
With Cousins hitting free agency during the ensuing offseason, the Vikings tried but failed to re-sign him. They were unwilling to give Cousins full guarantees through 2025. That wasn’t going to fly for Cousins, who went on to accept the Falcons’ Godfather offer of four years, $180MM and $100MM in guarantees.
A month and a half after adding Cousins, Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot took another enormous gamble in drafting former Indiana and Washington signal-caller Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall. It came as a major surprise, and Cousins later revealed he may have re-signed with the Vikings had he known the Falcons would draft Penix.
“It felt like I had been a little bit misled or certainly if I had had the information around free agency, it would have affected my decision,” Cousins said last summer. “I had no reason to leave Minnesota, as much as we loved it there, if both teams were drafting a quarterback high.”
Despite Fontenot’s efforts, the Falcons still don’t have a clear answer at QB. Cousins struggled to regain form in the first year of his contract, leading head coach Raheem Morris to bench him for Penix ahead of Week 16. The Falcons were 7-7 and fighting for a playoff spot when Morris made the change. They finished 1-2 under Penix and missed the postseason for the seventh straight year.
Penix remained Atlanta’s starting entering last season, but it proved to be another rough season for the club. The Falcons went 8-9 again, and the oft-injured Penix was inconsistent before suffering a partially torn ACL in Week 11. The Falcons were 3-7 at the time. Cousins quarterbacked them to a 5-2 mark to wrap up the season, but it wasn’t enough to save Fontenot or Morris. Owner Arthur Blank fired the pair and replaced them with a new regime of president of football Matt Ryan, GM Ian Cunningham and head coach Kevin Stefanski.
A couple days after ousting Fontenot and Morris, the Falcons reworked Cousins’ contract, which signaled a forthcoming release. If Cousins is still a Falcon on the third day of the league year, he’ll earn a guaranteed $67.9MM for 2027. The restructuring also includes an $80MM poison pill for March 13, according to La Canfora. Considering the language in his deal, he’s as good as gone. The Falcons would take on a $35MM dead cap charge in designating Cousins a post-June 1 release, but they’d spread that over two seasons ($22.5MM in 2026, $12.5MM in ’27). The team would also save $2.1MM in cap room next season.
As is the case with the Falcons and Penix, the Vikings don’t know if they have the solution in their own 2024 first-round passer. Two picks after Penix came off the board, the Vikings selected McCarthy 10th overall.
A year after winning the national championship at Michigan, McCarthy missed his entire rookie campaign with a torn meniscus. The Vikings didn’t miss a beat without McCarthy, though, as veteran Sam Darnold revived his career during a 14-win outburst.
After their season ended with an ugly wild-card round loss to the Rams, the Vikings didn’t retain Darnold. They also couldn’t prevent late-season backup acquisition Daniel Jones from leaving for a chance to start in Indianapolis. Darnold walked in free agency for the Seahawks’ three-year, $100.5MM offer. One season later, Darnold and the Seahawks are Super Bowl champions. Jones had a terrific year in his own right before it ended with a torn Achilles in Week 14.
Meanwhile, the Vikings are coming off a nine-win season in which poor QB play torpedoed their chances of earning a playoff berth. McCarthy posted subpar numbers over 10 starts, and three injuries – a high ankle sprain, a concussion and a hairline fracture in his right hand – kept him out of seven games. The Vikings have since fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, the GM who drafted McCarthy.
“They can say what they want publicly, but they have some serious questions about McCarthy,” one GM told La Canfora.
Vikings executive vice president Rob Brzezinski is now their interim GM, but O’Connell wields plenty of decision-making power. If he regards Cousins as an ideal veteran to place in the QB room with McCarthy, a reunion could be in store.
If they’re chasing a Super Bowl, Aaron Rodgers best be at the top of their list. Cousins takes them to a divisional-round loss.
Lmaoo Aaron Rodgers isn’t good anymore brother. Did you watch that offense this year?
Rodgers is cooked and a disaster off the field.
Aaron Rodgers turns every offense into the Aaron Rodgers offense. I’m not sure KOC would prefer that and whatever benefit he adds over Cousins to someone who would run what KOC designs.
if this happens, you have to move McCarthy. there’s no way you can bring in cousins, have him start over JJ and then after a year go back to JJ again.
move him even if you have to swallow a loss (sure the Cardinals or Jets would take a shot for a 3rd rounder)
I’m not sure it’s that mandatory. McCarthy’s played a whopping 10 games in the NFL and he’s still a month younger than Ty Simpson. And it’s not like you’d be bringing in Cousins expecting him to play 17 games. I’m not saying I’m holding out a ton of hope for McCarthy, but I don’t think Cousins obligates them to trade him.
Trusting La Canfora is like trusting your bride-to-be who still engages in prostitution.
Well damn, lmaoo
Mr 4th and 8!! As if Darnold hoisting the Lombardi wasn’t enough. Just brutal.
We’ve all seen what Cousins can do. Minnesota has had enough of his kinda sorta results. Not a chance he’s back in Minnesota.