Kirk Cousins will be making a free-agency visit, after all.
Agent Mike McCartney says that Cousins will visit the Vikings once free agency opens.
“No final decisions have been made,” agent Mike McCartney said today. “The plan is to visit Minnesota first. That’s all we can say right now.”
It’s OK for Cousins to plan to visit Minnesota. It’s not OK for the plans for a visit to be actually made between Cousins and the Vikings. (A league source has confirmed that this rule is still on the books.) That’s one of the weird quirks of the negotiating window, during which teams are allowed to negotiate with a player’s agent, but during which arrangements for visits cannot be made.
If this sounds picky and hypertechnical, consider this: In 2016, the NFL whacked the Chiefs for talking directly to receiver Jeremy Maclin at a time when the Chiefs were permitted to only talk to his agent. And the Chiefs ultimately lost a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick over it.
Of course, it’s possible that Cousins has made his plans without an invitation. But if there’s any digital trail of flights, hotels, meal reservations, etc. -- and if the NFL’s Arbitrary Wheel of Justice lands on “go get ‘em” -- the Vikings may find themselves in a bit of a predicament when the dust settles on their acquisition of the first healthy, sub-30 franchise quarterback in the history of free agency.