Vikings’ Kirk Cousins found secret to perceived success

Kirk Cousins finally followed Tom Brady’s lead.

Cousins finally figured out how to maximize his perceived value as an NFL quarterback.

Step 1: Be absent.

Step 2: Let your contract run out.

The change in perception regarding Cousins has to be as shocking to him as it is to everyone else.

Less than three years ago, he played for a head coach, Mike Zimmer, who openly disliked him. Two years ago, he discovered he was playing for a new general manager who didn’t value him. When the new Vikings regime arrived, Cousins was the subject of the interview that scared General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah away from frequent public speaking.

Adofo-Mensah was quoted, in the first lengthy interview of his tenure, comparing Cousins unfavorably to Brady and Patrick Mahomes. Those comments led to the probably accurate perception that Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O’Connell wanted to do their best with Cousins in the short term, then build around their own hand-picked draft pick when Cousins’ deal ran out.

Like Brady, in a way.

Brady is the subject of one of the great modern sports debates — were the New England Patriots great because of him or coach Bill Belichick? Then Brady went to Tampa Bay and won a Super Bowl while Belichick’s Patriots declined, leading to Belichick and the Patriots parting ways this month.

Brady settled the debate about the Patriots by no longer being with the Patriots.

Cousins is doing the same thing for his career and perceived value right now.

By getting hurt Oct. 29 in Green Bay, Cousins proved his worth because those who replaced him couldn’t prove theirs.

They tried to replace him with veteran backup Nick Mullens, who seemed to be a big fan of Oprah. You get a ball. You get a ball. You, too, get a ball, whatever jersey you might be wearing.

They tried replacing Cousins with draft pick Jaren Hall, who looked, in his second NFL start, as if he was unfamiliar with the sport of football.

When Cousins signs his next big contract, he might want to send a thank-you note and some cash to those three for demonstrating his value.

The latest rumor surrounding Cousins is proof of how perceptions about him have changed. If Atlanta hires Belichick to become its new coach, there are credible NFL analysts who believe the Falcons will pursue Cousins.

After all, Belichick has proved he needs a reliable veteran quarterback to win after having about as much success with Mac Jones and Co. as the Vikings did this season with their three bench quarterbacks.

The Vikings probably would have won two or three more games — losses to Denver, Chicago and Cincinnati could have been converted to victories with just a few more accurate passes — and gone into the playoffs, where their late-season defensive collapse probably would have kept them from winning a game.

Cousins would have entered this offseason as the quarterback who, at 35, had spent another season in futile pursuit of a second playoff victory.

Even if the Vikings’ primary problems were injuries and a poor running game, Cousins would have been saddled with much of the blame because taking blame for losses is what NFL quarterbacks do.

Instead, Cousins suffered his first significant injury as an NFL quarterback and was missed. When he showed up, shirtless, to sound the Gjallarhorn before the Packers game at U.S. Bank Stadium, he was treated like a hero.

Because he got hurt.