Cousins is fools gold! He has an arm that can make all the throws and great accuracy. But he is slow to make his decisions and ends up holding the ball too long. That doesn't help a poor offensive line get any better. He is also risk averse and will take the check down rather than take a risk at times.
This leads to good QB stats but not always wins. He can't carry or elevate the team. The team has to be great around him to be successful.
I think he is a good QB; but not championship caliber.
I thought picking up Cousins was a mistake. Especially, considering the salary impact.
I realize they would have to of spent a lot of draft capital to snag a QB in the draft, but I wish they had.
Now they are stuck with this mess primarily due to the Cousins contract.
I hope they prove me wrong, but I just can't see it working out. And if it doesn't, Zimmer and Spielman should both follow Cousins out the door.
Quote: @jargomcfargo said:
Cousins is fools gold! He has an arm that can make all the throws and great accuracy. But he is slow to make his decisions and ends up holding the ball too long. That doesn't help a poor offensive line get any better. He is also risk averse and will take the check down rather than take a risk at times.
This leads to good QB stats but not always wins. He can't carry or elevate the team. The team has to be great around him to be successful.
I think he is a good QB; but not championship caliber.
I thought picking up Cousins was a mistake. Especially, considering the salary impact.
I realize they would have to of spent a lot of draft capital to snag a QB in the draft, but I wish they had.
Now they are stuck with this mess primarily due to the Cousins contract.
I hope they prove me wrong, but I just can't see it working out. And if it doesn't, Zimmer and Spielman should both follow Cousins out the door.
Pretty spot on.
Has anyone ever counted all the QBs the Vikings have brought in after they played (often their best years of their careers) for other teams? I am thinking back even before Spielman and the Wilfs were involved, so it really seems like we have some franchise penchant to bring in QBs drafted and developed elsewhere: Cousins, Bradford, Favre, Donovan McNabb, Jim McMahon, Randall McDaniel, Jeff George, Josh Freeman...I'm forgetting a bunch, no doubt.
In contrast, I think we have only drafted 4 QBs in round 1: Kramer, Culpepper, Ponder, and Bridgewater. Any others? I think the only other relatively high picks were Tarvaris Jackson in the (late) 2nd and Tarkenton in the 3rd. Has any other team spent so few high draft picks at QB??
Quote: @Jor-El said:
Has anyone ever counted all the QBs the Vikings have brought in after they played (often their best years of their careers) for other teams? I am thinking back even before Spielman and the Wilfs were involved, so it really seems like we have some franchise penchant to bring in QBs drafted and developed elsewhere: Cousins, Bradford, Favre, Donovan McNabb, Jim McMahon, Randall McDaniel, Jeff George, Josh Freeman...I'm forgetting a bunch, no doubt.
In contrast, I think we have only drafted 4 QBs in round 1: Kramer, Culpepper, Ponder, and Bridgewater. Any others? I think the only other relatively high picks were Tarvaris Jackson in the (late) 2nd and Tarkenton in the 3rd. Has any other team spent so few high draft picks at QB??
Warren Moon and Gus Frerotte are two from other teams that come to mind, although they played well for the most part. As for our own drafted QB's? Hard to remember asides from those you already mentioned.
Quote: @PurpleCrush said:
@ Jor-El said:
Has anyone ever counted all the QBs the Vikings have brought in after they played (often their best years of their careers) for other teams? I am thinking back even before Spielman and the Wilfs were involved, so it really seems like we have some franchise penchant to bring in QBs drafted and developed elsewhere: Cousins, Bradford, Favre, Donovan McNabb, Jim McMahon, Randall McDaniel, Jeff George, Josh Freeman...I'm forgetting a bunch, no doubt.
In contrast, I think we have only drafted 4 QBs in round 1: Kramer, Culpepper, Ponder, and Bridgewater. Any others? I think the only other relatively high picks were Tarvaris Jackson in the (late) 2nd and Tarkenton in the 3rd. Has any other team spent so few high draft picks at QB??
Warren Moon and Gus Frerotte are two from other teams that come to mind, although they played well for the most part. As for our own drafted QB's? Hard to remember asides from those you already mentioned.
How could I forget Warren Moon?? Frerotte, Matt Cassell...Joe Kapp was a CFL vet, even Rich Gannon was originally drafted by the Patriots.
We drafted only 6 QBs in high rounds in 60 years?? That's some organizational attitude. Think about it, 2 of the 1st round QBs were picked in the last decade alone, so prior to Ponder in 2011 the Vikings picked a QB in round 1 only twice in half a century.
I read this in a column somewhere recently. The Vikings took Mike Hughes in the 1st round a couple years ago, when Lamar Jackson was still on the board. Instead of picking Hughes and signing Cousins, the Vikings could have traded for Alex Smith and drafted Jackson as his understudy. Man, how different things could have gone.
Quote: @PurpleCrush said:
I read this in a column somewhere recently. The Vikings took Mike Hughes in the 1st round a couple years ago, when Lamar Jackson was still on the board. Instead of picking Hughes and signing Cousins, the Vikings could have traded for Alex Smith and drafted Jackson as his understudy. Man, how different things could have gone.
of course hindsight is always 20/20... although if they had gone that route, we could be here cursing our OL for getting Jackson so gun shy that he is a bust and wishing we had a corner that could cover somebody.
Quote: @PurpleCrush said:
I read this in a column somewhere recently. The Vikings took Mike Hughes in the 1st round a couple years ago, when Lamar Jackson was still on the board. Instead of picking Hughes and signing Cousins, the Vikings could have traded for Alex Smith and drafted Jackson as his understudy. Man, how different things could have gone.
That's like my endless wish that we had drafted Russell Wilson instead of CB Josh Robinson in 2012. But I guess the QB position was locked down by Christian Ponder at that point.
Quote: @Jor-El said:
In contrast, I think we have only drafted 4 QBs in round 1: Kramer, Culpepper, Ponder, and Bridgewater. Any others? I think the only other relatively high picks were Tarvaris Jackson in the (late) 2nd and Tarkenton in the 3rd. Has any other team spent so few high draft picks at QB??
I would say most successful teams.
You don't want to be a team who's drafting a QB in the first round every couple years. That means you're drafting busts and you probably suck. Browns (Mayfied, Kizer, Manziel, Weeden); Jags (Bortles, Gabbert, Leftwich); Jets (Darnold, Hackenberg, Geno Smith, Sanchez, Pennington). Patriots haven't drafted a QB in the 1st round in 27 years (Bledsoe). Seahawks, 27 years (Mirer). Cowboys have drafted one in the 31 years since they drafted Troy Aikman (Quincy Carter).
Vikings are somewhere in the middle of that, which is what you'd expect, considering that of the 4 you mention, 3 were hits, 2 of which had career altering injuries.
The key to success is to either get lucky in the 1st, about a third of which turn out. Or get lucky later in the draft (Wilson, Brady, Prescott, Romo), or nail a free agent (Tannehill, Brees). Every single team in the NFL has tried all three of these routes with varied success.
Bottom line is you need to get lucky.
Quote: @Jor-El said:
When I read articles or theories about the 49ers or any team trading for Cousins, I think of Andy Dalton. They are the same age, very similar careers in terms of stats, wins, and playoff wins (or lack).
If a team could pick up Dalton as a waiver / free agent, as the Cowboys did...why would anyone give the Vikings a high draft pick for Cousins?
I don't think the Vikings are asking for a high draft pick? Where did you get that information? The Vikings might be forced to cut Cousins this offseason just to save the over 40 mil of guaranteed money for 2022.
Cousins new deal gives the Vikings a bit of an out if he is cut before the 3rd day of the league year this offseason (when his huge 2022 salary becomes fully guaranteed). The Vikings negotiated this for a reason???
There are cheap options out their in free agency (Matt Schaub, Ryan Fitzpatrick, A.J. McCarron, Jacoby Brissett, Blake Bortles for example) that can give the Vikings just as much of a chance to win as Cousins, and also allow them to get out from under that huge 2022 hit.
Why @ Jor-El do you want to keep paying him if the Vikings are not a win now team?
Kubaik has had great results with Matt Schaub in the past. So, for an extra bag of chips, the Vikings could have Schaub over Mannion "almost" dollar for dollar. And the kicker is the Vikings could be just as competitive with Schaub over Cousins in 2021.
Yes, if the Vikings are not a win now team, I'm suggesting that the Vikings consider cutting Cousins in the offseason and pay him his salary for 2021... sign Matt Shaub (or a cheap veteran of choice) and roll with Schaub or that veteran.
So, unloading Cousins to the 49ers might not take much of an offer? If the Vikings are not a win now team, is the front office moving closer to wanting out of the Cousins' contract?
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