Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins earned his second Pro Bowl invite in 2019, but the 2019-20 NFL season was far from the cheery end note for the 31-year-old Michigan State product.
In the second year of his three-year deal Cousins signed with the Vikings worth $84 million, the Minnesota signal-caller had a very rocky start until Cousins and the team flipped the script in October, winning all four games en route to a postseason berth and first-round victory over the New Orleans Saints.
Cousins had a complicated season with the Vikings in year two with the franchise after last year yielded an 8-7-1 finish without clinching the playoffs. On face value, both Cousins and the Vikings improved, winning two more games, and the latter could not have done it without the former.
In 2019, Cousins threw for 3,603 yards with a 69.1 completion rate for 26 touchdowns and six touchdowns. Part of what complicates grading Cousins' season was while he threw for fewer yards (4,298) and touchdowns (30) than his first season with Minnesota after six years with the Washington Redskins, the former fourth-round pick from the 2012 draft saw his main backfield teammate in running back Dalvin Cook take major strides in 2019, which required Cousins to take a back seat at times.
In a vacuum, this was the ideal step for the Vikings in achieving a more balanced offensive attack between Cousins' arm and Cook's legs under head coach Mike Zimmer and now-former offensive coordinator turned Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski.
So, from the outside looking in, Kirk Cousins' stats declining are more acceptable given the change in offensive philosophy and increase in carries for Cook, a first-time Pro Bowl in Orlando this weekend with his quarterback.
Grade: B-
Cousins is definitely a top-15 quarterback in the NFL right now. In this league, being better than half of the other gunslingers is O.K., and in Cousins' case, he definitely raised the Vikings' ceiling (he went 10-5 in starts in 2019, sitting out Week 17 after clinching the second Wild Card spot).
The next question for Minnesota will be heading into 2020 how seriously should the team lean into the veteran Cousins, and if the former Redskins quarterback has done enough under center in three years in the Twin Cities to merit a new contract at age 32.
The answer to that will fall directly on the Vikings' thought process behind whether Cousins has done enough to raise the franchise's competitive ceiling or not.
Kirk Cousins is a more-than-competent quarterback who bought into the Vikings' offense in 2019 better than his initial year for the NFC North club. It is difficult to believe Cousins' tenure with Minnesota will ever get over the Green Back Packers–sized hump at the top of the division in spite of the Vikings' defensive brilliance this past season.
Regardless, Cousins performed well even if he is not a fit longterm after 2020.
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