Vikings May Not Extend QB Kirk Cousins

Aloha, Skoloholics, and welcome to another Kirk Cousins Vikings discussion! The silly season is in full swing, with wars and rumors of wars……. Wait a second, that’s from a different book. The silly season is in full swing, with trades and rumors of trades, re-signing and re-leases of players, and LOTS of speculation. Since you need hip waders to read through stories from the NFL sports media at this time of year, we’re forced to read between the lines to try to glean information. In other words, we’re forced to speculate (just don’t do too much of it or you’ll go blind).

Quarterback Position

One position that causes anxiety for many a Viking fan is the quarterback position. As we know, Kirk Cousins is only signed through the 2023 season. Since arriving in Minnesota via a fully guaranteed contract, Kirk has been one of the more productive QBs in the league. Kirk Cousins stats are solid (stats courtesy of PFR) there is no arguing that.These stats bolster the arguments made by Cousins’ supporters. However, Kirk’s detractors would point to his overall record and lack of playoff success as reasons why to move on.

Kirk Cousins Vikings History

If the past is any indication, Kirk will want a beefy contract with lots of guarantees written into it. We can only guess as to the conversations going on behind closed doors, but judging by past contract negotiations, I don’t see Kirk giving the team a lot of room to allow for flexibility within any contract he may sign. If that is the case again during this negotiation, then I think it’s likely that the Kirk Cousins era in Minnesota may be coming to an end soon.

Some fans want the team to trade Cousins yesterday (your daily reminder that there IS a no-trade clause in his contract). Others want to see the Vikings sign Cousins to an extension. Other fans would rather they just let him play out this contract, and draft our new QBOTF in this draft so that QB can sit and learn under Kirk in 2023, then take over in 2024.

Whichever side of the fence you’re on, the team has done nothing to tip their hand about which direction they’re going. You COULD say that the fact they haven’t done anything is an indication that they plan to allow Kirk to play out his contract for now. This move makes sense to me, as there is little upside in signing Cousins to an extension at this point. You can wait to see what happens in the draft, and see how the 2023 season turns out, before they make a decision.

Mark Wilf on GMFB

Listening to Mark Wilf on Good Morning Football this morning, he seemed to indicate that the team, at least for now, is planning to let Kirk just play out his contract.

Keep in mind that we are in the silly season. Everything you hear may be a smokescreen, may be 100% BS, may be both of those, or there could be some truth to what you’re hearing. If Mark Wilf’s comments do mean anything, then he only gave assurance that Kirk would be the quarterback for 2023. I’m on board with this approach. No reason to jump the gun on an extension. If Kirk balls out in 2023, the Vikings can still decide to try to extend him at any point before the 2024 season. If he doesn’t, or if the Vikings manage to nab their QBOTF in this year’s draft, then the Vikings have the option of moving on. They could then allow Kirk to enter free agency in 2024, and collect the high compensatory pick that would surely follow.

In this slow news cycle, this is at least SOMETHING to talk about. What do you want the Vikings to do? Vote in the poll below! What do you think the Vikings will do? Let us know in the comments. SKOL!

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