Is Kirk Cousins a little too good to get rid of or not quite good enough to keep around?
Well, um, ah, … yes.
Welcome to the Kirk Konundrum, Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O'Connell. It felled the fellas who came before you and is the most important maze the two of you must maneuver successfully before on-field results start replacing perfected press conferences.
The landscape for NFL quarterbacks shifted mightily again on Tuesday, reportedly sending Russell Wilson from Seattle to Denver, keeping Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay as the highest-paid player in NFL history, and making Purple Nation wonder if perhaps Cousins now moves to the front of the line of quarterbacks on the trading block a week from the start of the new league year.
Jimmy Garoppolo, of course, has no long-term future in San Francisco. The 49ers will be trading him at some point this offseason as they transition to Trey Lance, but probably not anytime soon since Garoppolo had shoulder surgery on his throwing shoulder on Tuesday. He's expected to be ready for training camp, but potential suitors are going to want to wait and see a bit.
Garoppolo doesn't have Cousins' arm talent or stats. He does, however, have a 37-16 record, two trips to the NFC title game and a Super Bowl appearance. Cousins, meanwhile, has a perfectly average 59-59-2 career record, one playoff victory and, oh yeah, that $45 million salary cap number, which is less than ideal for a cap-strapped team that's doing a reboot with many holes to fill and a natural reluctance to hitch itself to another multi-year deal with the quarterback.
Six months ago, 15 teams opened the 2021 season with new quarterbacks. A month ago, one of those teams, the Rams, cashed in, winning Super Bowl LVI with Matthew Stafford leading the way.
A copycat league took note. Sensing it also was just one quarterback from hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, Denver first went after Rodgers and ended up with another one-time Super Bowl winner in Wilson. Other teams like Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay could follow.