Vikings extend QB Kirk Cousins (Two years)

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Vikes22 said:

If we wouldn’t of had 4 guys hurt on defense last year, we would of made the playoffs. 
 

We had the 4th ranked offense in the league. What more  could we ask from Cousins? 
 

Free up some money and add a FA or 2 and hopefully hit on some of our draft players picks, and we will be just fine next year.

I wish I could be as optimistic as you.  However, some of the guys who got injured on defense were older, and Hunter's neck injury scares me.  He may not be the same guy he was before.  I think injuries for veterans on defense might be a pattern.  The Vikings have many holes to fill.

[Eric dunn]

I want Kirk Cousins off this team by any means necessary. I lost faith in Kirk Cousins last season. I had hope but it’s all gone. I don’t care about his stats, I don’t care where he ranks. I know what I see and I don’t see a QB who can lead a team to a SB and win. If it means we go 3-13 next year, then so be it. Kirk isn’t the future. I know he’s not a bad QB, but I don’t believe in him.  My #1 wish for this off-season is for the Vikings to get rid of him. As far as a plan for the future, draft a guy & Sign a bridge veteran QB. IMO this isn’t a team ready or close to win a SB anytime soon anyways. So I say embrace it and make the decision now to move on. 
 

But I know this isn’t going to happen. Zim & Rick believe they can win now. They will likely keep Kirk & probably extend him past next year to lower his 2022 cap hit. Probably win 8-9 games next year and be 1 and done in playoffs. Then one or both could be fired if things are worse. 
 

 

[twslhs20]

12 hours ago, Duluther said:

We wouldn’t come close to 8-8 with Jimmy and our roster. Shanny hides a lot of his weaknesses with quick RPOs and short routes.

 

That said, 8-8 with Kirk isn’t a great place to be, I agree.

Yeah this team honestly sucks with Cousins.

[Uncle Buck]

At the time the Vikings originally signed Kirk, he was the best option available.  They signed him and paid him a lot of money.  Times change.  There is no reason they have to continue with him as their QB if there are better options available right now, and they should always be looking for better options until find someone who they are confident can lead them to a Super Bowl win.

[Vikes_Bolts1228]

1 hour ago, Uncle Buck said:

There is no reason they have to continue with him as their QB if there are better options available right now, and they should always be looking for better options until find someone who they are confident can lead them to a Super Bowl win.

Unfortunately there's only one QB in the league available right now who'd be a better option and that's the guy in Houston that we can't get.

I really don't know if I want to re-set at QB and go back to 2-3 years of QB hell unless we have a better option than Kirk or the potential to snag a 1st round QB.

2-3 years of another stop-gap pretty much ends Dalvin's prime....Thielen will be near the end....and who knows if Jefferson will pull a Diggs and get crabby if we don't solve the QB issue if we send Kirk away.

Vikes had a top-10 offense in 2020. The defense is getting Hunter, Barr, Pierce, Kendricks back and the rookie CBs should be better. If we can get that same offense with a typical Zimmer defense, I think we're back in the playoffs BUT we're lightyears behind the elite teams.

As much as I want the Vikes to make a big splash after a boring season, I think we're stuck with Kirk for 2021 which sucks but it's better than 2-3 more seasons of yawning football and back to QB roulette. 

If you can promise me right now that 14 or our pick in 2022 will get us a QBOTF or if we can package Kirk, 14, and 2021 1st over to Houston for DW....it'd be amazing. Watson being our QB for 10 years is 100% worth our next 2-3 firsts + Kirk

 

 

Edited February 4, 2021 by Vikes_Bolts1228

[Boda]

11 hours ago, Virginia Viking said:

I wish I could be as optimistic as you.  However, some of the guys who got injured on defense were older, and Hunter's neck injury scares me.  He may not be the same guy he was before.  I think injuries for veterans on defense might be a pattern.  The Vikings have many holes to fill.

Who is older that got hurt? Barr & Kendricks are both 28 & Hughes is 23.  Pierce wasn't hurt, he opted out because he was high risk & 28 isn't old both players should have anywhere from 4-7 years before any real fall off.  Hunters neck injury is scary but he looked like he was progressing fine when he was running drills the other day.  

 

I just don't know how anyone can begin to say the Defense won't get better with the return of any 1 of those guys(Hughes could be arguable) but getting back all 3 along with the rookie CB's going into year 2 after promising rookie years & whoever we add via FA & The Draft.

The Vikings have 3 holes to fill on Defense. (edge, 3T & S) 4 if you don't want to place Hughes in the lineup and that's without taking into account any progress from guys like Watts, Lynch, Mata'afa & Dye.  

 

Edited February 4, 2021 by Boda

[Boda]

18 hours ago, CriminalMind said:

I'm okay downgrading from Cousins to Jimmy, but the package needs to be worth it. It might not need be as strong as the Rams package though. SF does have different picks compared to LAR at their disposal, such as #12 this year.

I like Cousins & I think the whole narrative about him is absolute garbage.  With that said I would happily accept a trade for #12, 44 & Jimmy G.   

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Boda said:

Who is older that got hurt? Barr & Kendricks are both 28 & Hughes is 23.  Pierce wasn't hurt, he opted out because he was high risk & 28 isn't old both players should have anywhere from 4-7 years before any real fall off.  Hunters neck injury is scary but he looked like he was progressing fine when he was running drills the other day.  

 

I just don't know how anyone can begin to say the Defense won't get better with the return of any 1 of those guys(Hughes could be arguable) but getting back all 3 along with the rookie CB's going into year 2 after promising rookie years & whoever we add via FA & The Draft.

The Vikings have 3 holes to fill on Defense. (edge, 3T & S) 4 if you don't want to place Hughes in the lineup and that's without taking into account any progress from guys like Watts, Lynch, Mata'afa & Dye.  

 

Barr and Kendricks are getting older.  If Hunter comes back the same, great.  But, if he doesn't then there is a hole.  Pierce has never played a down for the Vikings.  It is hoped that he will be effective in the defense...yet, I was excited when we signed Sheldon Richardson...who didn't do diddley.  Hughes is a bust.  Plain and simple.  Watts, Lynch and Mata'afa showed promise.  I don't know if Dye showed anything...however, I wouldn't make any of them day one starters.  Right now they are depth guys who might start if there's no one better.  Then, as you point out, there is a defensive end position (what the hell is an "edge" anyway??), a need for a safety and a pass rushing, run crushing defensive tackle.  

If you go back and look at my post that you are responding to, I never said the defense couldn't get better.  I said I wasn't as optimistic as the poster I was responding to.  Please don't mischaracterize my post.

[RpMc]

4 hours ago, Boda said:

I like Cousins & I think the whole narrative about him is absolute garbage.  With that said I would happily accept a trade for #12, 44 & Jimmy G.   

Well that ain't happening any time soon.

[vikingsrule]

9 hours ago, Uncle Buck said:

At the time the Vikings originally signed Kirk, he was the best option available.  They signed him and paid him a lot of money.  Times change.  There is no reason they have to continue with him as their QB if there are better options available right now, and they should always be looking for better options until find someone who they are confident can lead them to a Super Bowl win.

Was he the best option available over a five year window? Absolutely not. Teddy or Keenum were given it would have forced the team to find a long term replacement and would have given the team much more cap flexibility. 
 

Was Cousins the best option for a run from 2018-2020? That’s a fair argument to be made. The team still had a lot of favorable contracts to absorb the hit, but the team around Cousins (I guess mostly the defense) fell off drastically. 

[Purplepride323]

3 hours ago, vikingsrule said:

Was he the best option available over a five year window? Absolutely not. Teddy or Keenum were given it would have forced the team to find a long term replacement and would have given the team much more cap flexibility. 
 

Was Cousins the best option for a run from 2018-2020? That’s a fair argument to be made. The team still had a lot of favorable contracts to absorb the hit, but the team around Cousins (I guess mostly the defense) fell off drastically. 

I think Kirk Cousins has had a pretty good run from 2018-2020. His numbers don’t lie. However, he’s not a great QB. Meaning he won’t single-handedly lead a team to the Super Bowl. I think with a great team though, we can win a Super Bowl, even with Kirk Cousins. Sort of like Nick Foles with the Eagles, or Joe Flacco with the Ravens. These guys weren’t the greatest of QBs, but they had a great team, and they got the job done. I think Kirk Cousins is good enough to get the job done.

[vikingsrule]

1 hour ago, Purplepride323 said:

I think Kirk Cousins has had a pretty good run from 2018-2020. His numbers don’t lie. However, he’s not a great QB. Meaning he won’t single-handedly lead a team to the Super Bowl. I think with a great team though, we can win a Super Bowl, even with Kirk Cousins. Sort of like Nick Foles with the Eagles, or Joe Flacco with the Ravens. These guys weren’t the greatest of QBs, but they had a great team, and they got the job done. I think Kirk Cousins is good enough to get the job done.

It’s debatable if the Vikes can now build up a great team around Cousins given his cost and aging/turnover of key defensive players. There has been very little development and some bad drafts from 2016-2019 that has put the defense in a bind. A heavy investment on offense has cost the defense dearly (Cousins and early OL picks). The Vikes need to get back to playing top 5 worthy defense and I don’t know how they get back to that, essentially now, to coincide with Cousins peak.

[CriminalMind]

There are a couple camps here:

A) Cousins is the best we'll likely have for the next 2 years, so just embrace it because Rick/Zim are tied to him. This camp may acknowledge that Cousins might get a further extension. 

B) Cousins can be upgraded now (maybe 1 QB to make it happen), let's take the cap hit and do it.

C) throw out all these Cousins offensive stats, he had a good statistical year but that's actually aided by a bad defense (and a better defense likely reduces Cousins offensive stats). He not going to take us to a NFCCG, let alone a SB. Let's downgrade at QB and get some picks. Build for the future 2 years away with a young player with lots of question marks, but maybe a chance. 

[Vikes_Bolts1228]

41 minutes ago, CriminalMind said:

There are a couple camps here:

A) Cousins is the best we'll likely have for the next 2 years, so just embrace it because Rick/Zim are tied to him. This camp may acknowledge that Cousins might get a further extension. 

 

This is the key right here.

Why would Zimmer and Rick trade away Cousins for a rebuild when it means Zimmer has a high chance of getting canned and Rick could be right behind him?

 

[SemperFeist]

1 hour ago, Vikes_Bolts1228 said:

This is the key right here.

Why would Zimmer and Rick trade away Cousins for a rebuild when it means Zimmer has a high chance of getting canned and Rick could be right behind him?

 

Answer, they won’t.