Cousins looks forward to resuming career as a Viking
Kirk Cousins leans on faith, looks forward to resuming his career as a VikingIn his first news conference since tearing his Achilles, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins said he wants to end his career in Minnesota but that he's learning to hold his career "loosely."
The Vikings' first two games of November were the first two Cousins has missed in his career because of his injury; he watched their win over the Falcons with his foot propped up on a couch, tossing footballs to his son Cooper in the basement of his house, and stayed home with his younger son Turner while his wife, Julie, took Cooper to last week's win over the Saints.
The first significant injury of Cousins' pro career has also forced the notoriously fastidious quarterback to figure out how to use his time, through a process that sounds very unlike him. "Just trial and error," he said.
He's settled on a routine that begins with the Vikings' 90-minute quarterback meeting, where he'll learn the game plan alongside the team's active QBs "and offer an occasional thought, if I have one," he said. Then, he heads to rehab while teammates are lifting weights or attending additional meetings. When the Vikings practice, he heads home to continue rehab with Cook. Coach Kevin O'Connell texts him, asking for any thoughts he has on the game plan or opportunities to attack opposing defenses.
Cousins has dined with teammates in the lunch room and wheeled through the locker room on a foot scooter Thursday while wearing a Creed T-shirt. On Tuesday, his first day out of a cast, Cousins went with Julie and Cooper to serve Thanksgiving meals alongside teammates and their families at the St. Paul Salvation Army.
"Based upon the timeline, we really didn't think we'd be able to have him much in the building, and he has already been in a bunch of quarterback meetings," O'Connell said Wednesday. "I know him and Josh have talked a lot, him and I have talked a lot. He knows our offense — he knows it as well as any of us, pretty much. It is kind of similar to our normal dialogue of Monday and Tuesday, and as he gets into his tape study, I just him, 'I just want you to be involved. I just want you to be around our team.' He is going to start traveling when he gets cleared to do that. I think it will be a huge bonus for everybody to have him around."
The Vikings added two void years to Cousins' contract this spring when the team and quarterback were unable to agree on a long-term extension, putting Cousins in line to become a free agent after the season. In recent weeks, both General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell have indicated they want Cousins to return, though as Adofo-Mensah reiterated, whether or not that can happen will depend on negotiations.
At the time of his injury, Cousins was tied for the NFL lead in passing touchdowns, ranked second in yards, third in passer rating and fifth in completion percentage, despite having played three games without Justin Jefferson.
Cousins said again on Friday he wants to end his career in Minnesota. After Washington drafted him in the fourth round in 2012, he said he made it his goal to play his entire career for one team. When that didn't happen and he signed with the Vikings, he thought, "Not only do I want to be just a two-team quarterback, I want the run in to go so well that I'm remembered as basically a one-team quarterback, that I played for the Minnesota Vikings."
Friday he said, "That desire hasn't changed. That's still the same. There's a lot that's out of my control in that. You can want a lot of things; that doesn't mean it's going to happen. So I keep an open mind, but certainly would love for that to be the case."
As with his injury, he's trying to hold his future loosely.
"It's not something you look back and say, 'Oh, in spite of that, I did this or was a part of this.' It's more of a: 'Because that happened, it made me better and enabled me to go where I want to go,'" he said. "So that's kind of the way I want to look at it. You kind of have to check back in five years and say, 'What happened?' Until then, you're just on the journey.
"https://www.startribune.com/kirk-cousins-minnesota-vikings-future-achilles-injury/600320662/
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
I look forward to the Vikings moving on from him.
@"comet52" said: I look forward to the Vikings moving on from him.
fair enough....And I want a younger, more mobile QB in the future.
But this franchise hardly has had luck or intuition re: starting QB's. I am far from ready to kick KC to the curb.
Looking back at the last 30 years, where would KC rank on this list of all stars?
1993: McMahon
Salisbury
Moon
Salisbury
Johnson
Cunningham
George
Pepp
Bouman
Wynn
Fererotte
Johnson
Jackson
Holcomb
Bollinger
Favre
Webb
Ponder
McNabb
Bridgewater
Cassel
Bradford
Hill
Keenum
Cousins (18-23)
Depends on his recovery and contract.
Minnesota is on the path to create a culture that NFL players want to be at. With a salary cap, the difference in the NFL will be culture, facilities and coaching. The Vikings are very close to that extra intrinsic value.
@"StickyBun" said: Minnesota is on the path to create a culture that NFL players want to be at. With a salary cap, the difference in the NFL will be culture, facilities and coaching. The Vikings are very close to that extra intrinsic value.Will it hurt team culture to bring or not bring Cousins back? Agree with VG, depends a lot on his recovery and the Benjamins...
@"IDVikingfan" said:@"StickyBun" said: Minnesota is on the path to create a culture that NFL players want to be at. With a salary cap, the difference in the NFL will be culture, facilities and coaching. The Vikings are very close to that extra intrinsic value. Will it hurt team culture to bring or not bring Cousins back? Agree with VG, depends a lot on his recovery and the Benjamins...Hard to tell but his teammates seem to love the guy. If they swing and miss on a QB in the draft, likely hurts culture. If they swing and hit a home run winning tends to cure all. Agree it comes down to his recovery and cost.
@"StickyBun" said: Minnesota is on the path to create a culture that NFL players want to be at. With a salary cap, the difference in the NFL will be culture, facilities and coaching. The Vikings are very close to that extra intrinsic value.Problem is, all things aren't crested equal under the cap, with state income taxes taking a large chunk of the pie in certain states like Minnesota, they would really have to go over the top on the other things to make a free agent want to sign there for less take home pay. I've always thought that played a part, heard an interview with an agent a while back that confirmed it, players definitely take notice of teams that are in states without income tax vs those with the added draw from their income.
C'mon back, Kirko.
@"StickyBun" said: C'mon back, Kirko.
Imo, last nights performance changes nothing in terms of KC going forward. We still need to draft a QB early, and we still got to see what mobility from the QB position can do for our offense, we didn't have passing accuracy and that made the difference, but it wouldn't have taken .ugh better passing accuracy and that combined with the mobility factor and we win that game. Kirk has the arm, but will never have the mobility so even if Dobbs isn't the bridge QB you want, if the goal is to try and win along the journey then Kirk isn't it either.
Like we were all agreeing to the last couple weeks, imagine what an extra 20 million a year in cap space could do for the roster and put that with a mobile QB with average arm talent and see what you get. Dobbs has unlocked the secret pages of the playback, some are throw aways, but imagine this playbook with that better passing option. We don't need Mahomes, but even a watered down version would be an improvement.
I still say unless he plays for a lot of incentives and no handcuffing verbiage, we move off Cousins.
@"JimmyinSD" said:@"StickyBun" said: C'mon back, Kirko.
Imo, last nights performance changes nothing in terms of KC going forward. We still need to draft a QB early, and we still got to see what mobility from the QB position can do for our offense, we didn't have passing accuracy and that made the difference, but it wouldn't have taken .ugh better passing accuracy and that combined with the mobility factor and we win that game. Kirk has the arm, but will never have the mobility so even if Dobbs isn't the bridge QB you want, if the goal is to try and win along the journey then Kirk isn't it either.Like we were all agreeing to the last couple weeks, imagine what an extra 20 million a year in cap space could do for the roster and put that with a mobile QB with average arm talent and see what you get. Dobbs has unlocked the secret pages of the playback, some are throw aways, but imagine this playbook with that better passing option. We don't need Mahomes, but even a watered down version would be an improvement.
I still say unless he plays for a lot of incentives and no handcuffing verbiage, we move off Cousins.
Just for clarity, for me personally, when I say 'C'mon back, Kirko' that doesn't mean I don't want to draft a QBOTF this upcoming draft. Not even close. IMO, that is Job 1 coming out of this Spring's Draft. It needs to happen. I just want Kirk back to play a year and let the kid learn. I'm not interested in some kind of 3 year deal for Cousins.
I'm still where I've been all season:
bring Kirk back on a fair contract, which now has variables including "was leading the league in TD passes" and "injury" to be considered along with his popularity in the locker room.
The hate club has never, and will never, count toward anything.
I want him back for maybe 2 seasons to be the guy while a true QBOTF is drafted and learning behind him. I have zero faith that our fan base will stay with a rookie QB's learning curves after we've shown to be such a negative bunch in recent years.
@"Zanary" said: I'm still where I've been all season:bring Kirk back on a fair contract, which now has variables including "was leading the league in TD passes" and "injury" to be considered along with his popularity in the locker room.
The hate club has never, and will never, count toward anything.
I want him back for maybe 2 seasons to be the guy while a true QBOTF is drafted and learning behind him. I have zero faith that our fan base will stay with a rookie QB's learning curves after we've shown to be such a negative bunch in recent years.
I think that is the sticking point. What Kirk and his Agent think is fair vs. the Vikings is why I don't see a new contract getting done. We weren't close on getting a deal done in the offseason when he was healthy because the Vikings didn't like the numbers. Kirk can just sit out 2024 while he gets healthy and collect his $28.5 Million the Vikings owe him, but there will be plenty of other teams bidding for his services so I doubt he does that. I still think the deal he ends up getting is going to be around $30 Million guaranteed with incentives that could get him to $40 Million which is what his market would have been had he not torn the Achilles.
@"TBro" said:@"Zanary" said: I'm still where I've been all season:bring Kirk back on a fair contract, which now has variables including "was leading the league in TD passes" and "injury" to be considered along with his popularity in the locker room.
The hate club has never, and will never, count toward anything.
I want him back for maybe 2 seasons to be the guy while a true QBOTF is drafted and learning behind him. I have zero faith that our fan base will stay with a rookie QB's learning curves after we've shown to be such a negative bunch in recent years.
I think that is the sticking point. What Kirk and his Agent think is fair vs. the Vikings is why I don't see a new contract getting done. We weren't close on getting a deal done in the offseason when he was healthy because the Vikings didn't like the numbers. Kirk can just sit out 2024 while he gets healthy and collect his $28.5 Million the Vikings owe him, but there will be plenty of other teams bidding for his services so I doubt he does that. I still think the deal he ends up getting is going to be around $30 Million guaranteed with incentives that could get him to $40 Million which is what his market would have been had he not torn the Achilles.
Kirk is a free agent after 23, that 28.5 is prorated signing bonus and is nothing except cap gymnastics to make his current deal work the last few years, can kicking.
Given that the current "badass QB bar" is currently at a median of...what, $50 million per season?...if his deal has escalators making 40 possible, that's not unreasonable by current market standards.
Granted, I think a ton of athletes' pay is whacko, but relative market is what matters....
Did you know....
Dobbs and K.Cousins share the same agent?
Mike McCartney
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