Strib: Kirko trying to get better with age

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https://www.startribune.com/kirk-cousins...600301178/

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ITs a good read, I'll post some highlights (below) - its firewalled off
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Cousins this year has the offensive continuity he has long sought. O'Connell is the first play-caller he's had in back-to-back seasons since Sean McVay in 2015-16, while offensive coordinator Wes Phillips and quarterbacks coach Chris O'Hara also return. Cousins turned 35 on Aug. 19, with teammates serenading him in the U.S. Bank Stadium locker room after the Vikings' preseason game against Tennessee, and has played more regular-season snaps than all but three current NFL starters (Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford and Russell Wilson).He will pass Daunte Culpepper on Sunday for the third-most regular-season quarterback starts in Vikings history. Cousins holds team records for quarterbacks in their 30s in completion percentage (67.8%), passing yards (20,934), touchdowns (153), passer rating (100.9) and success rate (48.5%).
"I heard a quote from Tom Brady a few years ago. He said, 'I'm only getting better as a quarterback [as I age]. Mentally, emotionally, my leadership, everything is better,' " Cousins said in an interview last week. "And that hit home with me. I'm going, 'Wait a minute: If I can still make all the throws, I can take the hits and stay healthy, I can still move, I'm way better at 38 than I was at 28.'
 "Where Cousins will play beyond this season is uncertain, after the Vikings added two void years to his contract for salary cap reliefwhen talks on a long-term deal fizzled this spring. The team has not ruled out bringing him back for 2024, and Cousins has maintained his goal is to retire in Minnesota, but his contract expires in six months.
Uncertainty notwithstanding, Cousins has seemed every bit the cheery camp counselor in 2023 he was in 2022. He hosted a backyard bonfire, took teammates out for dinners at Chili's, broke up camp doldrums with silly events like Mustache Monday and addressed the entire team on the first night of training camp (at O'Connell's request) about what it takes to build a long NFL career.

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The debates about Cousins — over his lack of postseason success, his short throw for T.J. Hockenson on a do-or-die fourth down in last January's playoff loss, or his NFL future — rage on outside TCO Performance Center. Inside the Vikings' headquarters, he's earned gravitas with younger players by quietly building an unusual career.
Only eight quarterbacks drafted in the fourth round or later have started more games than Cousins' 137. He could pass Mark Brunell (151) for fifth on that list this season. By the middle of 2024, he could surpass Bart Starr (157) and Matt Hasselbeck (160) and rank behind only Brady and Johnny Unitas.
Players sat at rapt attention as Cousins shared his thoughts on the keys to NFL success. It worked, Phillips said, because Cousins' longevity grants him an audience.
"That speech was awesome," Phillips said. "I also know all that stuff wouldn't matter if these guys didn't know how well he throws the football. If you can play, they'll be behind you. Our receivers know how good Kirk is. People can say whatever. There are quarterbacks in this league that cannot get you the ball, and they understand they have one that can."

How much longer will that be? He has been around long enough to know he can't predict what's coming.
He points to the fact he won't see Rodgers at Lambeau Field this year as evidence the NFL's business spares no one from change. To assume anything beyond a current season, Cousins said, is foolish.