The Vikings and quarterback Kirk Cousins agreed on a one-year contract extension around this time last year and the brief term of that deal puts contract talks back on the docket for this offseason.
At a press conference in Indianapolis on Tuesday, General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah addressed Cousins’ status. An extension would bring Cousins’ cap number down for the coming season and Adofo-Mensah said “you don’t want to just be firing random darts at a quarterback” in regard to finding someone else to play the position, but he acknowledged that the team and the quarterback likely have different views of what a new deal would look like.
“Obviously from their side, they want it as certain as possible, and from our side, we want flexibility,” Adofo-Mensah said, via Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “You’re always trying to be solutions-oriented and find a way that works for both people. . . . He has as much importance to this organization and maybe more than I do, so we all have to be on the same page and make sure that relationship works.”
In addition to sorting out Cousins’ situation, Adofo-Mensah and the Vikings have calls to make on the futures of players like running back Dalvin Cook, safety Harrison Smith, and wide receiver Adam Thielen while also working on an extension with wide receiver Justin Jefferson. It all adds up to a busy offseason for the reigning NFC North champs.