Report: Vikings have had extension talks with Kirk Cousins, nothing is imminent

NFC Wild Card Playoffs - New York Giants v Minnesota Vikings
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During a press conference at the Scouting Combine, Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was asked about the possibility of signing quarterback Kirk Cousins to an extension this offseason.

Adofo-Mensah said that the team didn’t want to be throwing darts at the quarterback position and that the team is “always trying to be solutions-oriented and find a way that works for both people” while acknowledging that the two sides may not have the same view of what another contract would look like.

It appears that remains the case. Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that there have been extension talks this offseason, but that no deal is imminent as the start of the new league year draws closer.

Cousins has $15 million of a $20 million roster bonus due this week and he’s set to count $36.25 million against the cap in 2023. An extension would cut that number down, but it looks like he may be on his way to playing out this year on an expiring deal.

54 responses to “Report: Vikings have had extension talks with Kirk Cousins, nothing is imminent

  1. Draft a QB and move on already. Cousins has proven that he can’t win games by himself, and you can’t build the team around him if you continue to pay him. It’s been like watching a dog chasing its tail the last 5 years.

  2. Never has anyone made so much money and delivered so little. This guy is a two-legged con job. A walking scam. The Nigerian Prince called him out for being too obvious. Good luck Vikes, because he wants every dollar.

  3. Draft a QB and move on already
    ——————
    How? The top QBs will be gone before the Vikings draft. The Cousins situation is one reason that I think the Vikings are a sleeper for Lamar Jackson. I’m sure the Vikings could find a trade partner for Cousins if that occurs.

  4. Cousins is Qb purgatory.

    Generally he’s good enough to win 7 – 10 days every year. Never good enough to seriously content for a superbowl and never bad enough to bottom out and cause a rebuild.

  5. If he’s resigned, it’s proof there is no higher being and the Vikes will never win a super bowl

  6. Please, please, make it happen Queasy. A fully guaranteed $40 million per year contract is just what it would take to put the Purples over the top.

    – The rest of the NFC North

  7. What is going on over there. So much of what we heard about for the last 12 months is how great of a culture KAM/KOC created over there; but no one wants to restructure their deals for cap space.

  8. A Cousins’ extension would be a very astute and intelligent move if a team has aspirations for an eventual Championship……said no one ever. 😃

  9. Signing Kirk Cousins to an extension is completely consistent with the Vikings’ commitment to mediocrity. We expect nothing less… or more.

  10. It’s hard to believe that Kirk can lead the Vikings to the promise lands. Kirk’s biggest flaw has been that he has always been consistently good. Not great, but good. We all understand that few QB’s are consistently great, but shouldn’t great be what you strive for at the most critical NFL position?

    Unfortunately, good isn’t going to win you any Super Bowl unless you have a 85 Bears style of defense to back you up. We all know how great* JJ has the chance to be. We all know how good* Kirk can be. What else can Kirk show us, that he hasn’t already?

    With cap strains and the release of fan favorites, resigning Kirk will just keep the Vikings good enough. Good enough to finish in the early 20’s of drafts, and miss out on drafting potential franchise altering quarterbacks.

    Will an aging Kirk ever be good enough to be great? That is a question the Vikings ownership needs to decide upon sooner, rather than later.

  11. Cousins is the kind of QB who isn’t good enough to get a team to the Super Bowl yet he is good enough to prevent the team from ever drafting a true franchise QB. Committing to QBs like Kirk is committing to perennial mediocrity.

  12. Cousins isn’t the problem, but he isn’t the solution either. Draft a developmental QB in the 2nd or 3rd round (i.e Hooker or McKee) and let them learn a year behind Cousins and get coached up by O’Connell.

  13. Will an aging Kirk ever be good enough to be great?

    ——-

    The answer is no. They need to move on from him somehow, someway

  14. Kirk Cousins to San Francisco for Trey Lance and a 1st round pick. Who says no?

  15. Why in God’s name would anybody want Trey Lance, he’s a glorified college quarterback!

  16. Cousins is a money grubbing player, but the reality of it is who else are the Vikes gonna get? Hopefully they’ll draft a QB for the future. So until then Cousin’s is it, but they’re foolish if they extend him now.

  17. chickensalad43 says:
    Kirk Cousins to San Francisco for Trey Lance and a 1st round pick. Who says no?

    ——————

    The 49ers have done some dumb things over the years, but not even they are stupid enough to pull that one off.

  18. Kirk Cousins to San Francisco for Trey Lance and a 1st round pick. Who says no?
    ————
    Minnesota says no. San Francisco says no. Huh?

    NFL teams refuse to give up on young QBs they are invested in. See Zach Wilson… NYJ acknowledges he is incapable of leading the team in 2023, but refuse to give up on him for 2024 and beyond. SF used a ton of firepower to acquire Lance; they likely will ride out the Lance experiment, rather than sacrifice all those picks. Lance has looked very bad in his small sample and Minnesota might be horrible with him as their starter. He’s constantly hurt, too.

  19. I don’t have a problem with a short-term extension as long as it doesn’t include a no-trade clause. He’s locked in as the QB for 2023. If you don’t extend him and decide to move on from him after that you get nothing more than a late 3rd-round compensatory pick. Draft a QB to develop this year or next year and as soon as he’s ready you trade Kirk for whatever you can get. There’s always someone willing to trade for a good starting quarterback (or even a bad one like Carson Wentz or Matt Ryan). An extension doesn’t necessarily mean you’re committing to him beyond this year.

  20. Maybe Kirk needs to concentrate on football, and less on shirtless little boys.

  21. Extending Cousins would get in the way of Rodgers being the 2024 starter in Minnesota

  22. Cousins agent must be a genius to be able to get that much money or such a mediocre QB. And now there talking about an extension? Pure genius!

  23. Cousins agent must be a genius to be able to get that much money for such a mediocre QB. And now there talking about an extension? Pure genius!

  24. Big game Kirk. Guy worked the system to be the most overpaid mediocre quarterback in NFL history

  25. Everybody knocks Cousins. Not his fault his team is trash and traded away the best receiver on the roster. He’s played the hand he was dealt and made some good money. So what? How long did it take Elway to win a suoerbowl? Sometimes good players just play on bad teams until the GMs/owners stop screwing up

  26. Vikings fans want trey lance beacause he’s local kid,same as the uproar that rose when they released thielen and quote what would Bud do? They think when you have a motorized ice hole drill you start it up and walk around in circles to make your hole.

  27. Amazing the hate that cousins gets. Non-Vikings fans, who cares, but from the Vikings fans – I just do not get it. If the Defensive was top 16, they would have beaten the Giants in the playoffs. Kirk was not the reason for the loss. Keep the O-line healthy and get a defense that does not suck – and let Kirk be part of a TEAM to do something special. SKOL…

  28. Lamar? Lance? You’all doing some drugs here. A running back that sometimes throws a bad ball and a guy that has shown absolutely nothing and is always hurt.. yeah right! Kirk won 12 games with the worst defense in football. Who knows what he could do if we had anything better on D where you have to play O near perfect each game. If every draft pick and free agent move does not involve a defensive player then Mensah needs to go! He already has blown his first draft!

  29. He keeps his team relevant, but history offers no indication of getting past the “nice regular season” ceiling. Kind of like Lamar Jackson in that way. Promise but no progress.

  30. The word to describe Cousins and the Vikings….Limited.
    Limited by the teams inability to put a good enough roster around him (whether that’s because of poor scouting or giving him to much money, is debatable). Limited by the fact Cousins is just not a ‘Big Game’ quarterback (He has good stretches and some good moments, but he disappears when theirs a spotlight).

  31. I love how nearly all other fans & media diss on Kirk Cousins, while he is smart, accurate, so durable that he plays every game & is opposite of a diva. Take note 2022 4th in NFL in pass yds, 5th in TD passes & 2021 4th in QBR. Copy & paste each year. Keep your 6th-32nd ranked QB & consider diss’n them instead. Team game – upgrade defense Vikes. -Skoll!

  32. pryrates2023 says:
    March 12, 2023 at 6:55 pm

    Cousins on the 49’ers last year would’ve been an instance SB winner.
    ———————————————————————————————–

    Not if the Niners weren’t planning on blocking Reddick they weren’t. Cousins would be looking at surgery now.

  33. If they don’t extend Kirk and just let him play out the final year of his contract then it will actually put a little more pressure on him to play better. If they go like 7-10 or 8-9 then what team is going to pay him what he thinks he’s worth on the open market?

  34. that’s Kwesi speak for I’d rather take my chances on a geriatric Phillip Rivers backed up by Baker Mayfield

  35. NFL teams refuse to give up on young QBs they are invested in. See Zach Wilson… NYJ acknowledges he is incapable of leading the team in 2023, but refuse to give up on him for 2024 and beyond. SF used a ton of firepower to acquire Lance; they likely will ride out the Lance experiment, rather than sacrifice all those picks. Lance has looked very bad in his small sample and Minnesota might be horrible with him as their starter. He’s constantly hurt, too.
    ——————————————————————————————

    Jets have given up on Wilson, but they just can’t admit it publicly for leverage and he offers no cap relief so he’s just stuck there for now.

  36. This QB played on a team with 31st best defense, they went 13 and 4. They had 8 last quater comeback wins, they had the biggest comeback win in the history of NFL this season, he made his 4th pro ball.

  37. Once again the Vikings mgmt basing the QB position around fantasy football stats instead of playoff wins and ability to win a championship. Why exactly did we drop Rick Spielman if the new GM is exactly the same???

  38. The Vikings WASTED TWO 3rd round picks to have the honor of hiring Kwesi from the Browns, and Kwesi is dismantling the Vikings into permanent mediocracy (at best). Extending Cousins is foolish. Find a way, any way possible, to make this Cousins FINAL year in Minnesota.

  39. Rodgers makes a ton of money, leads his team to a 13 win season, loses the first playoff game, and he’s the nfl mvp. Cousins makes 11th most money and less than Rodgers, leads his team to 13 wins and has the most come from behind wins (while his defense is 31st in nfl), and he’s overpaid and terrible? Oh….ok…

  40. zygizag says:
    March 13, 2023 at 1:39 am
    If Kirk really wanted to win big, he would cut his salery in 1/2
    ////
    Name me one player, or person, ever, that has ever taken 50% of the salary that their team/company is offering.

  41. he GM is Kwesi says:
    March 12, 2023 at 6:30 pm
    I don’t have a problem with a short-term extension as long as it doesn’t include a no-trade clause.
    ////
    You forgot just one minor detail. Cousins won’t agree to that. So, none of what you said can happen.

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