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For the last five seasons, the Minnesota Vikings have been one of the most talented teams in the NFL. However, the franchise has just two playoff appearances and one playoff win to show for it. Now the team is in transition, with longtime stars like Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, and Eric Kendricks no longer on the roster. And as the Vikings work to make over the team on the fly, it’s only a matter of time until quarterback Kirk Cousins is out, too.
Will QB Kirk Cousins the next longtime Vikings player to go?
The Vikings had an excellent record in 2022, going 13-4 and winning the NFC North. However, the record doesn’t tell the whole tale.
Despite the gaudy win total, Minnesota won 11 one-score games, including two in overtime, one on a 61-yard, last-second field goal, and one after pulling off the largest comeback (33 points vs. the Indianapolis Colts in Week 15) in NFL history.
That’s not exactly a dominant performance from Kirk Cousins and company. But that’s kind of what Vikings fans have come to expect from this team in the last half-decade.
At the end of the 2017 season, before Cousins arrived, the Vikings pulled off the “Minneapolis Miracle” to win the franchise’s first playoff game since 2009. Then the team missed the playoffs, made the playoffs, and then missed the playoffs twice more with Cousins, ultimately costing coach Mike Zimmer his job.
In that time, though, the club only posted one losing (7-9) season. The Vikings roster has constantly been good enough to compete and win games but not good enough to be true contenders.
And due to that, new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell are slowly making over the team.
This offseason, the Vikings cut or declined to re-sign a handful of tenured Vikings veterans on both sides of the ball. The list includes wide receiver Adam Thielen, linebacker Eric Kendricks cornerback Patrick Peterson, defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, and on June 8, running back Dalvin Cook.
These releases leave only a few veteran Vikings on the roster from back in the Mike Zimmer days. Quarterback Kirk Cousins, defensive end Danielle Hunter, and safety Harrison Smith are the main holdovers left from those teams.
So, is Cousins the next Viking elder out the door?
The answer — for now — is probably no.
Cousins is in the last year of his deal, making $20.2 million this season. For an NFL starting quarterback, that is basically peanuts, which is one thing keeping him safe. Plus, from a money perspective, his dead cap number is $48.75 million, which means it costs a lot less this season to keep him than to get rid of him.
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Aside from the money, there are also roster reasons that Cousins will likely be on the team for the entire season, unlike Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, and Eric Kendricks.
There isn’t any young QB on the roster right now who can come in, start, and guarantee that the Vikings at least compete in the (weak) NFC North this season. His backups are Nick Mullens — who is a high-end backup but not a legit starter — and a fifth-round rookie out of BYU, Jaren Hall.
Hall is an old rookie at 25 but does have some potential. However, it’s unlikely he’ll be ready to start early in 2023.
And competing and winning games in 2023 is important for the Vikings. That’s because the team has a franchise player to build around in Justin Jefferson, and they need to at least stay competitive to keep him happy.
Jefferson is set to become the highest-paid WR in NFL history, but as of June 2023, no extension has come yet. And while setting up Jefferson for success in the long term likely means parting ways with Cousins after this season, the only way the team can win double-digit games this season is with Cousins at the helm.
In the end, answering the question posed at the top here is easy, but also slightly nuanced.
Will Kirk Cousins and the Vikings split up before this time next year? Yes. Will he be the next Vikings veteran out the door? No.
That honor will likely go to Danielle Hunter, who immediately became the subject of trade rumors as soon as the team released Dalvin Cook.
After that, it will be Cousins when his contract runs out at the conclusion of next season, quickly followed by Harrison Smith, who the team will cut (saving around $11 million) next offseason. And that will complete this Vikings refresh and get them ready for the next era.
The only problem here is Minnesota fans should be careful what they wish for. While Cousins isn’t Tom Brady, he’s also better than about half the QBs in the league, and that’s not always an easy thing to replace.
