NFL: Predicting the week one starting quarterback for all 32 teams
By Kyle Edmond
Minnesota Vikings: Kirk Cousins
This one was a last minute change. Had Jim Harbaugh accepted this head coaching position with the Minnesota Vikings I would be expecting a different quarterback, someone more mobility. Maybe a trade for Deshaun Watson? A reunion with Teddy Bridgewater? However, with Harbaugh out of the picture the future just became a bit brighter for Kirk Cousins.
Cousins hasn’t necessarily played poorly in Minnesota, he’s just fallen short of what people expected from him when he went to the Vikings. It’s kind of like a coach who just can’t get over the hump and win the important games. Cousins has just one double-digit win season since arriving in Minnesota. In fact, his record with the Vikings is only 33-29-1. That’s barely above .500 at a .524 winning percentage. If he was a coach, he’d probably be fired.
The Vikings won’t cut Cousins, at least not before June 1. That would result in $45 million in dead cap. They could trade him before June 1 and the hit would only be $10 million. Or, the most likely option, they give him one more shot to prove himself.
The only way Cousins doesn’t start week one for the Vikings in 2022 is if he’s injured or Minnesota makes a Stafford-like trade. The only difference is the Vikings aren’t close to where the Rams were in terms of the rest of the roster.