Kirk Cousins has said he viewed the Vikings as using a year-by-year approach at quarterback during the latter part of his Minnesota run. The Vikings passed on extending Cousins in 2023 and then did not come especially close to the Falcons’ offer in March.
A move to Sam Darnold or J.J. McCarthy come Week 1 will mark a change for Minnesota, which has used Cousins as its starting quarterback to open each of the past six seasons. Cousins had said on many occasions he wanted to stay with the Vikings, but those comments died down this offseason. Falcons rumors emerged in early March and did not slow down, leading to the 13th-year QB’s four-year, $180MM deal — one that features a $100MM practical guarantee.
[RELATED: Offseason In Review: Minnesota Vikings]
The Vikings soon gave Darnold a one-year, $10MM deal and focused on a landmark Justin Jefferson extension. Given the money Cousins commanded from the Falcons, the Vikes — after already handing T.J. Hockenson a market-setting extension — would have experienced a difficult time extending Jefferson after re-signing their six-year passer. Jefferson knew this would factor into the Cousins conversation.
“I always knew that Kirk was going to do whatever he needs to do for his businesses-wise,” Jefferson said during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show (video link), “and I just knew that everything just wasn’t the way he wanted it to be here, especially just with having to pay me and having to pay so many other different guys.
“I feel like he just wanted a new start, a new opportunity to start with Atlanta and a clean slate, and I’m not mad at him at all for that. I’m grateful for what he has brought to me and the things that we have accomplished together.”
Via his practical guarantee, Cousins is on track to move his career earnings past $330MM. The former Washington fourth-rounder is certainly one of the shrewdest NFLers of his era and probably any era. Cousins maximized his value six years ago, maneuvering out of Washington after two franchise tags en route to a fully guaranteed $84MM Vikings contract. That three-year deal gave Cousins the upper hand in his ensuing negotiations with the team, leading to player-friendly extensions in 2020 and 2022. Guarantees held up the parties in 2023, and the Kwesi Adofo-Mensah-led front office let the veteran starter walk this year.
Jefferson signed a monster extension in June, committing to the Vikings on a four-year, $140MM deal that includes a whopping $110MM guaranteed. Both Jefferson’s guarantee and guarantee at signing ($88.7MM) shattered wide receiver records. Although the Vikings paid Jefferson despite a $28.5MM Cousins dead money hit due to void years, rivaling the Falcons’ offer and paying Jefferson would have been difficult. Jefferson’s $35MM-per-year extension will overlap with McCarthy’s rookie contract.
“At the end of the day, it’s a business and you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do for yourself and for your family, and I clearly understand that. But it’s on to the next,” Jefferson said. “It doesn’t really matter what quarterback it is in my eyes. I’m always going to try to make the best of the opportunity. I’m always going to try to be the quarterback’s friend and make his job a lot easier. It doesn’t matter if it was Kirk or if it’s Sam or if it’s J.J. I’m going to make it as easy as possible for him.”
Darnold will work with the starters to begin training camp, but the seventh-year veteran will eventually face a challenge from the No. 10 overall draftee. Cousins, 36 in August, now teams with two former top-10 skill-position draftees on rookie deals (Drake London, Kyle Pitts), and the Falcons brought in Darnell Mooney on a midlevel pact (three years, $39MM). Though, it is certainly possible that the Falcons pivot to first-rounder Michael Penix Jr. by the time those two are on veteran deals — if those extensions come to fruition in Atlanta.
Nice headline
JJ is being nice since he takes more steps in a play than cousins would take in the game. Cousins has always been a middle of the road QB with the ability to make it playoffs, but no skills to win it all.
Some players want to maximize their paycheck, some want a chip… ATL can enjoy the player they picked.
Vikings fans know cousins was an okay QB, but not great (only morons that didn’t watch him every play mention QBR since he performed great in garbage time), but JJ is a star undeniably.
I suppose that I’m a moron, then. Cousins is definitely better than average, and has been since before Jefferson came along. Even his detractors must acknowledge that he’s at least one of the ten best QBs in the league, which is certainly not “average”, and his record indicates better than only being good in garbage time. With the 31st ranked defense, Cousins led the team to a 13-4 record, posting 8 game winning drives. That number is tied for the most in a single season since the merger (Stafford is the other player, incidentally another NFC North quarterback).
Jefferson is the best receiver in the league, and based on my evaluation of his pure capability, one of the best of all time at his current pace. There is no doubt that he helped a ton with that 13-4 season, and has helped bail Cousins out with theatrical catches and silly separation since his arrival. Diggs has been a premier receiver his entire career, Thielen was in his Minnesota career as well. Osborn was a solid third option who was overshadowed by his other stars ahead of him. The newest addition in Hockenson is arguably the best receiver at TE right now, or soon could be. I acknowledge that, and you watch film, you can see how these guys making tough catches and getting open helps the quarterback by completing plays for him and boosting stats. However, what you also see is Cousins finishing plays, finding options in his reads, looking off defensive backs, and being accurate with the ball at a higher rate than the average quarterback. It’s just not factually accurate to say that he sees the field worse than the cast majority of starters. It just isn’t. That’s the most important part of being a good passer, and Cousins is precise enough to make most throws. That’s what you ask of a QB, and that’s what he does.
As for Cousins’ cast…of course he’s better with a good supporting cast-what quarterback isn’t? In 2007, when Brady set his personal and at that time records, hd threw to Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and Donte Stallworth at WR. That was a pretty darn good cast. Brady’s pre-retirement lineup in his penultimate year consisted of Mike Evans, Charles Godwin, Antonio Brown, Rob Gronkowski, and Cameron Brate. Manning set the current all time records for touchdowns and yards in 2013 with Demaryius Thomas, Wes Welker, and Eric Decker. Rodgers set the rating record in 2011 with Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Donald Driver, and Jermichael Finley. You get good receivers if you want good offense. Cousins is obviously not on those guys’ level (and those offensive lines in each of those years was elite, even if it gies unnoticed). But all of those players played better when they had good receivers. That’s just how the game works.
But you wouldn’t judge a guy’s play purely on who’s catching passes and expect to get a good analysis. You have to watch what he does, the little things, like those aforementioned elite passers. Cousins is, again, not on that level. But he does a lot of the same things that those guys did, within his abilities. He definitely directs the offense, goes through his reads, and usually delivers the ball on time and in the right place. He certainly has his deficiencies, and I could make this post even longer by touching on those, but his biggest issue on the field in affecting perception is that he’s not flashy. He doesn’t have many big plays that capture peoples’ attention that come up when you say his name. Even undeniably lesser QBs might have some, like his predecessor in Minnesota in Case Keenum with the Minneapolis Miracle. Cousins does all the little things right, and coupled with his guarantee demands and money seeking (shaped by Washington’s mismanagement of his career), fans tend to judge as worse than he is. But, no, to say that Cousins is merely average and then dismissing evidence that might counteract that is less accurate than acknowledging that he actually is a really good quarterback.
Other QBs have gotten the “is he elite” treatment before. Cousins is better than the “is he average” treatment that he gets now. Boring? Possibly. Average? Certainly not. Of course he has good receivers to be his best. That just makes sense. Teams are supposed to acquire talent, anyway, not tell their quarterback that they won’t do it so he can prove how he good he is (Green Bay style). That’s what Minnesota did, and that’s what they got. If they had done anything to fix that defense two years ago, they might have gotten a long trip out of it, too.
We do agree on one thing, for sure: Cousins care about his money. Most players in general (not necessarily saying Cousins-if I were, I’d have put JJ and his more lucrative than anything Cousins has gotten contract in there, too) think that they care about rungs, but pick better money instead. I have no doubts regarding whether Cousins is good or not. He is. Do I expect a Hall of Fame career out of him? No. Do I expect Atlanta to win the Superbowl before he retires? No. But I do know that he’s a pretty good quarterback who people enjoy discounting for whatever reason that they find, an obsession that perplexes me because I don’t understand what its reward is. It also perplexes me how you knew I was a moron. I mean, I did, but for you to know, you’d have to…oh. Read my posts. That’s how-nevermind, it makes sense. I played myself. I might be a moron, but I am a long-winded one. Sometimes it fools people.
Didn’t read the whole article you wrote, but my argument against him is he is not a winner.
Good field vision, not an elite deep threat arm but good and accurate. I just hate pocket passers who don’t have any good mobility. Brady loved the pocket and was an exception, but also could read a play and move before going down was inevitable. Cousins has always looked like a deer in the headlights.
Cousins is most definitely legit. And if the Vikings had fielded a half way decent defense, there would’ve been a lot more playoff games.
Gardner Minshew was a middle of the road and OK QB last season. Cousins is way better, notneleite, but better than average. Vikings fans will see soon when Darnold is behind center.
My scale would be great – okay – bad. So to get that straight there are only a few “great” QBs around at any given time. Cousins might be above average, but getting a C+ in school is not the same as the 14 yr old graduating with all As.
He’s sugar-free, dairy-free, flavor-free Vanilla.
Okay, my response was long, and you didn’t exactly ask for it. That’s fair. But I did present an argument as to why Cousins deserves more credit than he gets, and that people simplify their views on him too much. To use your grading scale, Cousins is well above a C+. He is certainly in the A range, and is one if the best passers in the league. I know that sounds off to say out loud, but really, it is reflected in the consistency from the last five or six years. Very few QBs have been able to start effectively and pass effectively for that long-fewer than you’d expect. He doesn’t have the physical tools to put him at the next level, ala Allen or Mahomes. But you can go far without them, especially considering the way the rules are now.
So, Cousins is definitely a good quarterback, much better than just “okay”. And he’s won plenty of games. That’s our disagreement. You don’t have to like him-as you said, he’s very boring as a player. I wrote that above as well, in my reply to you. But just because he isn’t elite compared to Brady, Manning, or Rodgers, doesn’t mean that he isn’t good. I’m not a “fan” per se of Cousins, but this popular opinion that he’s “meh” just isn’t reflected in reality.
Allow me to put it another way: there are fewer quarterbacks one should take ahead of Cousins than should be taken after him. Considering as well the fact that he was a fifth round pick, Cousins has played his way into more success than he’s given credit for by most fans.
JJ is the reason that Cousins was made to look better than he really is.
The supporting cast of receivers Cousins had in Minny also deserve credit.
4th and 8