PurplePTSD: Kirk Cousins Seems To Have Been Planning For This Precise Scenario

Press release from the PurplePTSD:

K. Joudry

2022-02-16

Much was made of Kirk Cousins’ fully-guaranteed deal that brought him to Minnesota. The veteran QB had essentially no team success to accompany his impressive stats. The Vikings, it would seem, attributed that deficiency to playing for Washington, one of the worst franchises in the NFL.

Since being in Minnesota, though, Cousins has done little to show that the problem was entirely Washington’s.

He has now been in a purple jersey for four seasons. The Vikings have made the playoffs one time in four years. He deserves credit for pulling off the OT win against the Saints; he deserves criticism for failing to show up the following week against SF. Otherwise, it has been three underwhelming years with KC under center. Again, it’s impressive stats and little team success.

This reality has led to no shortage of Cousins speculation.

Recently, Vikings Territory published a piece looking at the benefits of a trade. It’s also something that has been discussed here on Purple PTSD. We’ve covered a surprise team for Cousins, The Athletic‘s evaluation of his trade price, and what Mr. Cousins needs to do to stick around town (among other pieces).

Why all the fuss? Well, the answer is pretty straightforward: the man will make $45 million next season unless something changes. That kind of money demands team success. A player with such a gravitational pull on the budget is essentially saying that he’s good enough to overcome other problem areas on the roster. That hasn’t been the case so far.

Here’s the kicker, though: it seems that Kirk Cousins has been planning for this precise scenario all long. He really values stability and process in his decision making (check out Arif Hasan’s excellent piece covering this topic).

The Vikings find themselves in between a rock and hard place. In many ways, Cousins seems to hold all the cards. There’s close to 0% chance the team simply cuts him. Plus, pulling off a trade would be supremely difficult if he didn’t cooperate. The acquiring team would likely need to have money shifted around to accommodate him, a reality that necessitates his compliance.

KC, at least as far as I can tell, had this situation in mind when he negotiated a contract extension with the Vikings. He is very comfortable playing on a one-year deal for massive money. He did it for two years in Washington. If Minnesota doesn’t give him something he wants, he could just play out the year on his current deal.

The other scenario is to negotiate an extension. Again, though, Cousins holds a lot of power. He will be looking for long-term stability and guarantees. One wonders if Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will be able to break through for a more sensible contract, one that compensates Cousins while similarly giving the team more wiggle room.

It’s a tricky situation. Cousins seems to have been planning for this from the beginning of his time in Minnesota.

This press release was produced by the PurplePTSD. The views expressed here are the author’s own.