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.
To acquire the 33-year-old Wilson, Denver agreed to pay two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-rounder, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive tackle Shelby Harris and tight end Noah Fant. This came a year after the Rams acquired a then-33-year-old Stafford for two first-round picks, a third-round pick and quarterback Jared Goff.
Trading the 33-year-old Cousins wouldn't fetch nearly that much. Yes, Stafford had a losing record and an 0-3 playoff mark in Detroit, but his moxie and leadership intangibles are more revered than Cousins'.
The two-fold question then becomes what would it take for the Vikings to part with Cousins, and which of the more cap-friendly options could they secure as a short-term bridge at quarterback?
Several teams will be looking for quarterbacks in a year when the draft class is considered weak. Carolina, Houston, Washington and possibly the Giants are among the teams still looking for answers at the position.
Houston's Deshaun Watson, of course, is the wild card. He'd be the most talented player available via trade, but he also currently comes with 22 civil lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct and ongoing investigations by the police and the NFL.
As far as affordable short-term quarterback options in free agency, there's former No. 1 overall pick Jameis Winston, who is back running after suffering a torn ACL in Week 8 last year; former No. 2 overall pick Marcus Mariota, who's spent the past two seasons as a little-used backup in Vegas; former No. 2 overall pick Mitchell Trubisky, who spent a year as a backup in Buffalo after going 25-13 as a starter in Chicago; and former Vikings first-round pick Teddy Bridgewater, who went 7-7 as a starter in Denver last year.
No offense to old friend Teddy B., but the Broncos got a whole lot better on Tuesday when they became the latest NFL team to swing for the fences at quarterback.
Denver was not, however, the biggest winner Tuesday. That distinction goes to Green Bay.
The Packers let calmer heads prevail, rising above a calendar year of Rodgers' brooding and veiled threats. Knowing how good they have it, the Packers simply rewarded the best player in the league while creating the cap space to pay the best receiver in the league (Davante Adams) and giving the new Vikings regime little room for error when it comes to figuring out if Cousins is too good to get rid of or not quite good enough to keep around.
