Why Kirk Cousins Is The ANSWER In Minnesota

Overtime Heroics Editorial

1331 days ago

The Kansas City Chiefs have just won Super Bowl 54 and have the best quarterback in football. Two short years ago, our Minnesota Vikings were in the NFC Championship Game with a chance to play in a home super bowl. During the 2017-2018 offseason, the Vikings front office had a difficult decision to make. The Vikings had the decision to resign any of their pending free-agent quarterbacks: Sam Bradford, Case Keenum, and Teddy Bridgewater. Ultimately, the Vikings re-signed none of those players. They went out and signed Kirk Cousins to a then-record $84 million fully guaranteed contract. Since then Kirk has received an unfair amount of criticism through both good and bad stretches of play. Kirk Cousins is ultimately NOT the problem in Minnesota and here’s why:

The Beginning

Through two seasons in the twin cities, Kirk has provided a lot of positivity. To begin with, he has a record of 18-13-1 through 31 starts and a 1-1 postseason record. During Kirk’s only postseason win of his career (so far), he outplayed Drew Brees in his stadium. To say the Vikings got outplayed the next week in San Francisco is a completely fair statement to make because they did. The 49ers represented the NFC in the Super Bowl and steamrolled both the Vikings and the Packers on their way to an NFC title. The reality of the situation is the Vikings wouldn’t have been in San Francisco in the divisional round of the playoffs if it wasn’t for Kirk Cousins. Kirk is the ANSWER in Minnesota for the foreseeable future.

For as good of a guy Kirk is off the field, he has an enormous amount of people that choose to dislike him for making a decision to benefit his family. The most common complaint people have about Kirk Cousins comes down to his fully guaranteed contract. The reality is if those same people were fired from their job tomorrow and offered more money from a competitor, they would accept the deal in a heartbeat. So why all of this unprecedented hate towards a man for making a decision in the best interest of him and his family?

Kirk Cousins is a Good Quarterback

Cousins is a good quarterback but not a great quarterback. Whether or not you are a fan of him, he is our guy and he is here to stay. The reality of the Minnesota Vikings roster is this is their last shot at a Super Bowl with this core of players. Harrison Smith is 31, Kyle Rudolph will turn 31 during the season, and Adam Thielen will be 30. Whether the fans of the team want to admit it or not, the aging team doesn’t have an open window. The man leading the team will be Kirk Cousins and our franchise, fair or not, rides on his shoulders.

Another reality for 2020 is the Vikings won’t be getting a quarterback better than Kirk Cousins. Whether you think Cousins is a fringe top 10 quarterback or a fringe top 20 quarterback, the Vikings do not have the cap space or the draft capital to spend on a player better than Cousins. So whether or not Cousins is the guy, the Vikings are at minimum stuck with him through 2020. The offseason is a long period of time as we won’t get to see our Vikings play until August, and a meaningful game until September. I will do an article later on whether or not they should re-sign Kirk.

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