Headlines

Kirk Cousins

Extra Points: Cousins, 49ers, USFL, Europe

By | at November 18, 2021 3:24 pm

While Kirk Cousins has been the Vikings’ starter for four years now, his status came up constantly ahead of his 2018 free agency bid. Kyle Shanahan confirmed the 49ers would have been in play for Cousins in 2018 — for what would have been a reunion between he and the QB he coached while Washington’s OC — but San Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo extension preempted such a pursuit. Washington’s head coach at the time, however, believes the 49ers would have coughed up a considerable trade package for Cousins prior to October 2017’s Garoppolo trade. Jay Gruden said Washington could have obtained two first-rounders and perhaps two seconds for Cousins ahead of the 2017 deadline, and the then-WFT HC said — during an appearance on the Kevin Sheehan Show, via the Washington Post’s Jake Russell (Twitter links) — Daniel Snyder and Bruce Allen effectively killed such talks due to not wanting to reunite Shanahan and Cousins.

The 49ers gave up only a second-round pick for Garoppolo, though Cousins was a far more established starter at the time. The 49ers were mentioned in trade rumors regarding Cousins ahead of the 2017 draft, prior to his second Washington franchise tag, but Shanahan has only confirmed the team was planning to go after him in free agency. Gruden suggested Washington still had hopes of re-signing Cousins then; the team walled off this path after trading for Alex Smith in January 2018. Washington has long since moved on, firing Gruden during the 2019 season and Allen at its conclusion, though a notable void still exists for the franchise at QB.

Here is more from around pro football:

  • The XFL is not planning to launch its latest reboot until 2023, but another spring football attempt is in the works. Fox Sports is aiming another effort at establishing the United States Football League and has slated the effort for April, Ben Fischer of the Sports Business Journal reports. The USFL represents the best effort yet of a spring league in America; its ill-fated plan to move to the fall in 1986 led to its demise after three seasons. Fox employees Daryl Johnston and Mike Pereira, along with The Spring League co-founder Brian Woods, are set to be involved with this latest spring effort. Games would be televised primarily on FS1. Details are scarce at this point, but the recent Alliance of American Football and XFL 2.0 forays illustrate the uphill battle spring football presents.
  • The NFL’s push to play a game in Germany is expected to come to fruition by Super Bowl weekend, with Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports noting plans for the league’s future in Germany will become clear by February. The league is set to begin playing games in Germany annually either next season or in 2023, depending on COVID-19 restrictions, JLC adds. This would up the total of international games to at least four — two in London, one in Mexico City and one in a to-be-determined German city. With the NFL having sent more than two games to London in several previous seasons, it is possible the number of international games will surpass four.
  • Additional COVID testing is on tap for the post-Thanksgiving week. The league will require masks for all players, regardless of vaccination status, from Nov. 25-Dec. 1 at team facilities, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. All players and staffers will be tested twice the week following Thanksgiving.
13 comments COVID-19 San Francisco 49ers

Vikings Discussed Trading Up For Justin Fields

By | at May 7, 2021 2:43 pm

Justin Fields will begin his NFL career in the NFC North, with the Bears having traded up to land the Ohio State passer with hopes of ending their run of quarterback struggles. But one of Chicago’s top rivals was monitoring this situation.

After seeing Fields drop past the Panthers and Broncos at Nos. 8 and 9, the Vikings contacted teams about moving up for a quarterback. Fields was the primary target, according to ESPN.com’s Courtney Cronin. Although Minnesota has Kirk Cousins locked in through 2022, the team wanted to draft one of this year’s top QBs.

The Cowboys traded their No. 10 overall pick to the Eagles, who moved up for DeVonta Smith, and the Giants shipped their 11th overall choice to the Bears, scuttling the Vikings’ Fields hopes. While the Vikes sought to acquire one of the first-round-caliber QBs that did not go in the top three, they were not willing to give up the draft capital necessary for a player who would sit for at least one season, per Cronin.

[RELATED: Vikings Tried To Trade Up Twice In First Round]

A Vikings coach briefed Cousins ahead of the draft to prepare him for the prospect of a quarterback selection, Cronin adds. The team was prepared to select Fields, had he fallen No. 14. The Bears, however, beat them by three picks. It cost them a 2022 first-round pick to move up nine spots to No. 11, but it also denied their rivals a chance to create a Cousins-to-Fields QB transition.

That reality would have likely meant Fields sitting for at least one season. While the Bears hope to execute this strategy as well, it is unlikely Andy Dalton will keep Fields off the field for too long. The Vikings ended up selecting Kellen Mond near the top of the third round. Mond was the seventh quarterback off the board, with the Buccaneers ending Round 2 with their Kyle Trask selection. Mond is viewed as more of a developmental player than Fields and may not end up being a starter-level NFLer.

Rick Spielman said the Vikings tried to trade up from No. 14, and although he declined to specify the target, Cronin notes the team — presumably after Fields went to the Bears at 11 — eyed tackle Rashawn Slater. The left tackle-needy Chargers nabbed Slater at 13. Minnesota traded down to No. 23 and selected Virginia Tech tackle Christian Darrisaw.

Thanks to a clause in Cousins’ 2020 extension, his being on the roster on Day 3 of the 2021 league year guaranteed him $45MM in 2022. His run as Minnesota’s starter will almost certainly stretch to at least five seasons.

25 comments 2021 NFL Draft Minnesota Vikings

Vikings GM Rick Spielman: Kirk Cousins Is Our Quarterback, We Anticipate Having Danielle Hunter

By | at March 3, 2021 8:42 pm

The Vikings were a big disappointment in 2020, sparking some murmurs that the team could potentially look to move on from Kirk Cousins. Mike Zimmer tried to nip that in the bud about a month ago, and now Minnesota GM Rick Spielman is coming down emphatically.

“Kirk Cousins is our quarterback,” Spielman said, via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. “I know there’s a lot of rumors floating around out there, but Kirk Cousins is our quarterback. We felt that he played very well, probably the best that he’s ever played down that stretch last year. Kirk is our quarterback going forward, and I look forward to him (having) another year in this system.”

Some people connecting dots have floated the 49ers as a potential landing spot due to Cousins’ history with Kyle Shanahan, but that sounds exceedingly unlikely. Cousins signed an extension around this time last year that has him wrapped up through the 2022 season. Assuming Cousins is on the roster past March 19th, his 2022 salary of $35MM becomes guaranteed, so they won’t be able to just dump him after this season if he doesn’t perform.

Spielman also provided an update on star pass-rusher Danielle Hunter. There had been a report last year that Hunter would look for a trade if Minnesota didn’t adjust his contract, but Spielman said he hasn’t heard anything about a possible trade demand.

Hunter, who had 14.5 sacks in both 2018 and 2019, didn’t play at all last year due to a herniated disk in his neck. Spielman said his rehab has gone well, “he looks in great shape,’’ and that “we anticipate him being here.’’

He also said the team anticipates having defensive tackle Michael Pierce back in the fold in 2021. Pierce signed a three-year, $27MM deal with the team last March, but then opted out of the season due to COVID-19.

20 comments Minnesota Vikings

Kirk Cousins, Mike Zimmer Discuss QB’s Future

By | at February 6, 2021 11:57 am

The quarterbacks carousel is already spinning, but it sounds like one name may not be involved in the trade chatter. During an appearance on NFL Network, Vikings head coach offered some rare praise for quarterback Kirk Cousins.

“Kirk’s our guy,” Zimmer said (via NFL.com’s Kevin Patra). “You know, he had a terrific year this year. We were fourth in the league on offense. We have to get better on defense — we had a lot of injuries and young guys — that’s my job to get it fixed.”

As Patra notes, Zimmer has traditionally been “vague and cantankerous” when discussing his franchise signal-caller, so this is an interesting pivot. While Cousins hasn’t been roped into trade rumors by any reputable sources, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com threw some fuel on the fire when he examined the intricacies of a hypothetical Cousins trade earlier this week.

As Florio writes, if the Vikings were to move on from Cousins, they’d presumably be eyeing one of the few potential upgrades at the position. Alternatively, the organization could look to move on from the $56MM remaining on his deal, including a $35MM base salary for 2022 that becomes fully guaranteed in mid-March. After signing a two-year extension last offseason, the two sides could work on a new deal to save the organization same cash. For what it’s worth, Cousins recently told Florio that he’d be open to sticking around Minnesota beyond 2022.

“Honestly, I just signed the extension last offseason and it really doesn’t kick in ’til this coming year,” Cousins said. “It’s a two-year deal. Those two years begin with 2021. . . . I think it’s more about going out there next season and the year after that and playing at a high enough level that would justify being able to do another deal beyond that. That’s really where my focus is. As I said earlier, would like to be a Viking for the remainder of my career. I’ve got to play well enough to make that happen.”

While Minnesota struggled a bit in 2020, it wasn’t because of a lack of production from their quarterback position, as Cousins tossed a career-high 35 touchdowns.

10 comments Minnesota Vikings

NFC North Notes: Vikings, Cousins, Packers, Workouts, Bears, Castillo

By | at October 18, 2020 8:21 pm

The Vikings fell to 1-5 after their lopsided loss to the Falcons on Sunday, and Kirk Cousins had another bad game. He ended up leading a few scoring drives in garbage time to make his final numbers not look too bad, but his three early interceptions sealed the loss. It was his second game of the year with three picks, and he now has a league-high ten on the year. Speaking to the media after the game, Cousins acknowledged that his turnover issues could lead to a benching if he doesn’t get things cleaned up. “The reality is if the pace that I’m on, in terms of the interceptions, if that were to continue, I won’t finish the season. I won’t,” Cousins said bluntly, per Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

“There’s a little bit of – you’ve got to improve whether it’s them telling me ‘hey, we’ve got to improve’ or them pulling me, you’ve got to get better and that will be what the rest of the season will be about for me,” the Vikings’ signal-caller said. For what it’s worth, head coach Mike Zimmer said after the game that he didn’t consider benching Cousins during the loss. Minnesota’s backup is former Jared Goff clipboard-holder Sean Mannion, who isn’t exactly the most appealing second-string option. Cousins signed an extension back in March that has him under contract through the 2022 season. His dead cap hit would be $41MM next year, so moving on after this season isn’t really an option. As such, Zimmer is in a pretty tight bind if Cousins keeps playing like this.

Here’s more from the NFC North:

  • The Packers worked out kicker Giorgio Tavecchio earlier this week, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). There’s no indication there’s any problem with Mason Crosby, so this was probably just Green Bay doing some due diligence in the event of an injury of COVID-19 problems. Tavecchio has kicked for the Raiders and Falcons in recent years, and also spent time with the Los Angeles Wildcats of the XFL.
  • Tavecchio isn’t the only one the Packers are planning on working out. Green Bay will host linebacker Alvin Jones as soon as he clears the COVID-19 protocols, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. Notably, Jones is the win brother of Packers star running back Aaron Jones. A fellow UTEP product, the linebacker spent the past couple years with the Ravens, mostly on injured reserve and the practice squad. He’s yet to appear in a regular season NFL game. “I’m glad he’s going to get his opportunity and get a chance to work out,” Aaron said to the media. “I know he’ll do whatever he needs to do and hopefully he’s on the team with me. I’d love to have that. That’d be a true joy.“
  • The Bears improved to 5-1 with their win over the Panthers on Sunday, and they did it without one of their position coaches. Offensive line coach Juan Castillo is away from the team as he self isolates due to a close exposure to someone who is COVID-19 positive, Brad Briggs of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Castillo is apparently considered high risk, and the positive he was in contact with was someone away from the team and not a player.
22 comments Chicago Bears Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings

Vikings’ Kirk Cousins On Diggs, Contract

By | at April 14, 2020 7:20 pm

Naturally, Kirk Cousins wants to see life return to normalcy as soon as possible. But, if this year’s NFL games have to be played without fans in the crowd, he’s willing to take an optimistic view.

“Honestly, we practice every day in an empty grass area and pump in fake crowd noise for away games,” Cousins told reporters (via Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com). “But more often than not, you’re used to it. OTA practices don’t have a lot of pomp and circumstance to them. So honestly to go out and just play the game would kind of be refreshing, a breath of fresh air, to just let us know that we don’t have to have all the smoke and the fire, we can just play football. As long as we’re playing the game, I won’t have a lot of complaints, and hopefully if it’s still not returned to normal, we can find a way to make it work.”

Meanwhile, Cousins has extended his contract with the Vikings, agreeing to a new two-year, $66MM add-on to give him a grand total of $96MM over the next three seasons. This week, Cousins opened up to beat reporters about his shiny new deal and also gave his thoughts on Stefon Diggs for the first time since the trade. Here’s a look at some of the highlights.

On his contract:

“We felt like with the CBA and the shifting landscape that it was going to be difficult to know where this was going to go from here, so the timing was not going to be easy. I think that was a big point of communication through the process…a long contract would have been difficult because of the changing landscape of the CBA and I think that’s true for both sides. It was a win-win to get that contract structured the way it was.” (Twitter links via Cronin).

On the talks and the cap space provided by the extension:

“It was a no brainer to be back with the Vikings and find a way to make it work,” Cousins said (Twitter link via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press).

On his reaction to Diggs being traded to the Bills:

“It became apparent that he [Diggs] wanted to play elsewhere, and I think it was smart of the Vikings to grant him that opportunity…I think it wasn’t a mystery, and that’s OK. I wish him really well. I just so enjoyed playing with him. He’s a special player, and we now have to find a way to move forward and replace that, if you will, with a variety of players.”

On bidding Diggs farewell:

“I think my text message to him said something along the lines of, ‘You’re as good as any receiver I’ve ever played with. That includes some names like Adam Thielen, DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon … he’s elite. I just wanted to affirm him, and thank him.“

20 comments Minnesota Vikings

Contract Details: JPP, Cousins, Weatherly

By | at March 17, 2020 12:02 pm

Deals are coming in quickly, so we’ve compiled some important contract details below:

1 comment Buffalo Bills Carolina Panthers Dallas Cowboys Houston Texans Minnesota Vikings Philadelphia Eagles San Francisco 49ers Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Contract Details: Castonzo, Kirksey, Cousins, Jarwin

By | at March 16, 2020 3:37 pm

3 comments Dallas Cowboys Green Bay Packers Indianapolis Colts Minnesota Vikings

Vikings, Kirk Cousins Agree To Extension

By | at March 16, 2020 8:59 am

The Vikings will make a major move before the tampering period begins. They have reached an agreement on a Kirk Cousins extension, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. It’ll be a two-year deal worth $66MM, bringing the grand total to $96MM over three years, with $61MM guaranteed at signing.

This could be a significant help to a franchise that is annually up against the cap. The Vikings authorized a historic three-year, $84MM fully guaranteed Cousins pact two years ago. This move will help bring down their quarterback’s $31MM 2020 cap number.

While a Minnesota-Cousins re-up was rumored, this stands to change the Vikings’ near-future outlook. Cousins had one season left on his initial Vikings contract. The soon-to-be 32-year-old passer is now signed through the 2022 season. This will put to rest any further rumors of a Cousins-Kyle Shanahan reunion. With the 49ers also passing on Tom Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo again appears to be in the clear.

Minnesota already cleared cap space by cutting Linval Joseph and Xavier Rhodes, going from over the 2020 cap to $15MM-plus under it. This Cousins accord will create additional space for the team in free agency.

Cousins has played fairly well since choosing the Vikings in 2018. He has thrown 56 touchdown passes compared to 16 interceptions. The former fourth-round pick, however, has only finished 14th and 13th in QBR during his two Vikings seasons. The Vikings did win a playoff game in 2019, but their offense accomplished little in a divisional-round loss to the 49ers.

Nevertheless, this deal will keep Cousins in Minnesota for the foreseeable future. While it is likely not a fully guaranteed contract like the 2018 deal was, Cousins surely did well again. Given where the quarterback market has gone since Cousins’ landmark deal, it’s likely this contract will come in north of $30MM per year.

20 comments Minnesota Vikings Newsstand Transactions

NFC West Rumors: Cousins, 49ers, Seahawks

By | at March 13, 2020 3:52 pm

Prior to the Patriots sending Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers for merely a second-round pick, rumblings of a Kyle Shanahan–Kirk Cousins reunion occurred. Shanahan admitted Cousins was in the 49ers’ pre-Garoppolo plans. Although Garoppolo just quarterbacked the 49ers to Super Bowl LIV, the prospect of the 49ers jettisoning Garoppolo and signing Cousins in 2021 has popped up on some radars around the league, Albert Breer of SI.com notes. Cousins’ fully guaranteed Vikings contract expires at season’s end, and Garoppolo’s 49ers-friendly deal contains no more guaranteed money.

Cousins played under Shanahan with the Redskins from 2012-13, though Robert Griffin III was Washington’s starter for most of that span. Cousins will turn 32 this year, and the cap-strapped Vikings are expected to explore an extension for their third-year starter soon. If no deal gets done by Week 1, the throwback Cousins-to-San Francisco plotline may gain steam.

Here is the latest from the NFC West, moving first to the defensive side of the 49ers’ depth chart:

  • DeForest Buckner‘s fifth-year option price will drop from $14.36MM to $12.38MM, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). This reflects Buckner’s place as a defensive tackle, and not an end, in the 49ers’ 4-3 scheme. The 49ers hope to finalize a Buckner extension this offseason, and this adjustment figures to play into the talks. The Pro Bowl inside defender is entering a contract year.
  • Linked to being less than eager to wade into deep salary waters to retain Jadeveon Clowney, the Seahawks may be concerned with the free agent-to-be’s injury history. That could well be the reason the Seahawks are not prepared to pay Clowney north of $20MM AAV, John Clayton of 710 AM Seattle notes. A few other Clowney suitors have emerged — including the Giants, Colts and Titans — and Clayton expects the 2019 trade acquisition to leave Seattle soon.
  • Not only is Clowney a free agent, but so are D-linemen Jarran Reed, Quinton Jefferson and Ziggy Ansah. The Seahawks would like to re-sign Jefferson, but Clayton adds that the defensive tackle has generated steady interest on the market. Jefferson has 6.5 sacks over the past two seasons and, thanks to plus run defense, graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 27 interior defender in 2019.
  • The 49ers will be in the market for receiver help, but Matt Barrows of The Athletic notes (subscription required) the cap space-starved franchise’s likely goal will be for a modest Emmanuel Sanders market to entice him to re-sign. Shanahan and John Lynch may be waiting to see what teams offer the soon-to-be 33-year-old wideout, with Sanders revealing this week he and the 49ers had not engaged in an extension talks this offseason.
  • Despite the 49ers using Tevin Coleman as their RB2 in Super Bowl LIV, Raheem Mostert and Matt Breida remain low-cost options and may have better routes back to the 2020 roster. In addition to Jerick McKinnon needing to redo his lucrative deal to stay on the team, Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News writes Coleman might have to do the same. It would be interesting to see Shanahan cut bait on Coleman, whom he’s now coached for two teams. Coleman is set to make $4.55MM in base salary in the final year of his deal.
2 comments San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks
Show all
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors