Denver Broncos general manager George Paton knows a winner when he sees one.
It’s an undeniable quality in a quarterback that the former Minnesota Vikings executive has seen only twice in his career: once when the Vikings got Brett Favre as their quarterback and right now with Russell Wilson in Denver.
“There’s something different,” said Paton, when speaking with Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. “I experienced that for one year, two years actually, when we got [Brett] Favre in Minnesota. I remember that first practice. Really, you knew it. It elevated everyone. And it didn’t just elevate the players. It elevated the people in the building, the work ethic, the accountability. We feel that here with Russ.”
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So he’s seen every quarterback that has come and gone in that timeframe with the Vikings, and Favre was the only one he saw as a bonafide winner on the football field.
If you’re looking for a Kirk Cousins mention, you can stop cupping your ears already because his name wasn’t spoken. Florio even personally made note of it in his write-up from the interview:
“The fact that Paton didn’t experience that same feeling with the arrival of Kirk Cousins in 2018 is relevant to this conversation as well. Cousins is not a winner, at least not consistently and not in big games. And Paton, who was with the Vikings when Cousins arrived, apparently didn’t experience the same feeling when Cousins had his first practice in Minnesota.”
Some could make an argument that Cousins’ numbers actually look better than Favre’s when under center for the Vikings.
The Hall of Fame quarterback posted 4,202 passing yards, 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions in his best year with the team in 2009, while Cousins threw for 4,221 yards, 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions in just last season alone.
The numbers nearly mirror each other perfectly.
There’s also the fact that Favre’s Vikings had a top-10 defense, while Cousins’ defense couldn’t cover a twin-sized bed with a king-sized mattress. That argument alone is enough to create room for some pushback for Cousins’ enthusiasts.
But on the other side of the aisle, Cousins lacks signature moments and the overall ability to galvanize the players around him. Wilson has helped lead the Seattle Seahawks to multiple playoff appearances, despite the team hemorrhaging yards on a weekly basis in some seasons.
Why hasn’t Cousins been able to do the same in the last two seasons with the Vikings?
Paton knows all too well what it feels like to be in the shoes of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell. He didn’t see the same player or situation with Cousins as he saw with Favre over 12 years ago.
If he’s right, the Vikings are wasting their time kicking the can on Cousins’ bloated contract, hoping for change at some point. If not, however, the team should find a way to at least be competitive in 2022.
Considering all of the moves the team made in the front office, free agency and the draft, the Vikings are all out of excuses now.
