Interesting take on Kirko/Vikings

[purplefaithful]

Once they sign Jefferson, the Vikings will have set the market for premier pass-catchers.
Coming off a season in which their defense ranked among the worst in the NFL, they spent their first-round draft pick on a receiver, Jordan Addison.
The newish Vikings brain trust hopes (or intends?) to win a Super Bowl with a prolific passing offense. They are coming off a 13-victory season in which their quarterback played brilliantly in the clutch until the final offensive play of the playoff game.
They didn't sign that quarterback to a long-term deal, while prioritizing a tight end and the receiver position.
You could read that as an indictment of Cousins. A monetary insult from the Vikings' front office.
But is it that simple?
And do the Vikings have a succession plan in mind that would allow them to switch quarterbacks in Season 3 of the Kwesi & Kevin show?
My information is that the Vikings like Cousins but think that if they tried to sign him to a deal this offseason, it would have complicated getting the Jefferson deal done, and would have required them to pay Cousins more than the Giants paid Daniel Jones, who received a four-year deal valued at $160 million.
They don't think Cousins is worth $45 or $50 million a year, and they think that if Cousins is facing free agency next season as he's approaching his 36th birthday, he may find it preferable to do a reasonable deal with the Vikings and stay on the same team with Jefferson and with a coaching staff that knows him.
That's an educated guess. What does not require guesswork is this: the Vikings have no succession plan, and it's hard to imagine them moving on from Cousins in Year 3 of the Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O'Connell era unless he and the team self-destruct this season.
https://www.startribune.com/kirk-cousins-future-analysis-minnesota-vikings-contracts-tj-hockenson-justin-jefferson-jim-souhan/600301683/

[Guest]

Can you imagine Adofo-Mensah, the general manager, and O'Connell, the coach, going to ownership after a successful 2023 season and saying, "Yeah, we've had two great regular seasons and we have one of the best passing games in the NFL, but now we'd like to rebuild with a new quarterback, and we might not be any good for a few years, even with Jefferson, Hockenson, Brian O'Neill and Christian Darrisaw in the prime of their careers."
If a promising 2023 season turns into a disaster, the Vikings would have a high draft pick with which to pursue a quarterback. If Cousins and the team perform to expectations, they will have a low first-round pick again, and won't have a chance at the kind of talented quarterback who could start and win immediately. And even some quarterbacks taken at the top of the draft are either busts or projects themselves.
So while a common talk-show theme this season will be that Cousins is playing for his job, that's only true in that every NFL player is constantly playing for his job.
One caveat: O'Connell was the offensive coordinator on a Rams team that traded Jared Goff and a grocery cart filled with draft picks to the Lions for Matthew Stafford, with whom the Rams immediately won the Super Bowl.
Even given O'Connell's memory of that high-risk move, it's hard to imagine the Vikings not keeping Cousins around to throw to these highly-paid pass catchers.

[Guest]

I could see the Vikings try to re-sign Kirk to a 2 year deal or so, and draft a QBOTF in next year's draft to sit behind him and develop. Might actually be the preferred route, although it all depends on what Kirk is going to want.

[Guest]

@PurpleCrush said:
I could see the Vikings try to re-sign Kirk to a 2 year deal or so, and draft a QBOTF in next year's draft to sit behind him and develop. Might actually be the preferred route, although it all depends on what Kirk is going to want.

I agree...

If all goes according to plan this year, they will be drafting in the high 20's or lower.

 Unless they make a big move up, Vikings are not going to have a chance at one of the top 2 or 3 cant miss qb's (who we know can miss).
 
Lots of teams already have a ton of ammo to move around next draft with multiple #1's. I think the Packers and Bears are among them. 

IOW, their window to win the next 3 seasons is most likely with Kirko. 

[Guest]

I think they'll do both. They'll extend Cousins because they have to, for the reasons Souhan mentions above, but they'll also mortgage a chunk of the future to draft one of the top QBs next year. 

But definitely agree with you here: "their window to win the next 3 seasons is most likely with Kirko."

[Guest]

Yep.

That's what some of us have been seeing/saying as well: there's no obvious plan B, and plan A works better than people realize.

If we'd traded something for Lance or Mayfield, I'd fell differently, but there's only so many feasible options for life after Kirko Chainz at this point.

[Guest]

I just hope this QB class balls out this season and we can position ourselves somewhere reasonable to get a QBOTF without having to go all the way up to the top 3 or whatever.

Pickett, Jackson, Hurts, are all QBs in recent years that have gone after our picks in the 20s or Hurts in round 2 even. It’s difficult but not impossible to land one of these guys.

Reupping Kirk for another year or two is likely the plan at this point, if he’ll go for that. Our offense is loaded but if he wants an immediate path to a ring their might be other teams that appeal more. A lot can happen during the season. 

[Guest]

The only thing that is certain, if this team wins a ring w/ Kirko, it’ll be with the great Rick Spielman’s QB…! LOFL  B)  

[Guest]

Something that should also be taken into account is how willing is the organization to mortgage a bunch of draft picks for whoever that QB prospect is. If the story of them looking to have traded up this past draft for Young is true, then they definitely won't be afraid to move up next year if they identify a guy they like. 

Better hope that these college QB's ball out so that way the pickings will be bountiful.

[Guest]

A bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush.  I do understand the cap implications of retaining Kirk but an established, very effective QB is worth far more than a first round "can't miss" draft pick.  Too many fail.  I want a SB win before I'm on the wrong side of the lawn.