Amid all of the jubilation surrounding the brand new hires for the Minnesota Vikings, Kirk Cousins’ incredibly complicated contract situation remains the elephant in the room.
Will the Vikings trade him or sign him to an extension?
Those are the only likely scenarios left on the table for a team bracing for a $45 million cap hit in 2022. ESPN Vikings reporter Courtney Cronin isn’t willing to go all in definitively on one answer over the other. However, she did attach a percentage value to what she thinks the team will ultimately decide to do when it’s all said and done.
“I’ll go ahead and give you—I know you’re going to hate me for this—like a 60-40. I know that’s not the sexy answer because it’s almost 50-50. But I’ll put it at 60 percent trade and 40 percent extension. I think that it’s a bad mistake if you extend [Cousins] now simply based out of financial issues,” Cronin said on the Purple Inside Podcast. “You’re doing it to alleviate a problem that you put yourself in in the first place the last time you did this in order to create cap space, which you ended up using to franchise Anthony Harris. What are you guys doing? How about you don’t do this again.”
PIE CHART: Do the #Vikings trade Kirk or sign him to an extension?
On today's podcast @MatthewColler & @CourtneyRCronin discuss the future of Kirk and how the Vikings landed on O'Connell.
A- https://t.co/U6CdCoGMx6
S- https://t.co/vAscuDJTAa pic.twitter.com/y41G9GdWWn— Purple Insider (@Purple_Insider) February 8, 2022
Cronin makes a solid point that the new regime would essentially be following down the same path as former head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman with Cousins back in 2020.
The team opted to extend the quarterback through the 2022 season in an effort to reduce his cap hit to make other moves on the roster. Now, the team is essentially back in the same place they were before that decision was made.
Cousins is taking up 21.2 percent of the entire salary cap for the Vikings, and his cap hit is the third-highest among NFL quarterbacks.
“I know it’s such an absurd number to play at—$45 million cap hit. But I know it makes sense in a lot of different respects. Just let him play it as is. You want a competitive team, allegedly? You’re only going to get that with Kirk Cousins as your quarterback, I’m sorry. There’s a lot of teams that need quarterbacks and there are not a lot of quarterbacks out there. So if you want to be competitive in 2022, then you need to keep him at his number,” said Cronin.
The Vikings are currently $15.5 million over the projected salary cap for next season. So being married to that contract with a $45 million hit is crippling in regards to free agency. But absorbing that hit now would keep the team competitive, while also clearing the books of a huge problem in 2023 and beyond.
In any case, it’s hard to envision the team trading Cousins when soon-to-be hired head coach Kevin O’Connell is reportedly “high” on him. However, if the right opportunity comes along, there are no guarantees Captain Kirk will be wearing purple next season.
