Expect Kirk Cousins to be Traded

Kirk Cousins is in a state of career limbo as he anxiously waits on the Minnesota Vikings to hire a new general manager and subsequent head coach, after firing Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer last week. While Cousins is technically still contracted to play in purple next season, the prospects of that actually coming to fruition seem to dwindle by the day.

Veteran MN Sports Insider Expects Trade

According to the very plugged-in Charley Walters (Pioneer Press), Kirk’s career in Minnesota is likely coming to an end. Walters says we should expect Cousins to be traded by mid-march. He names Denver, Cleveland and New Orleans as possible trade partners, but projects Carolina as Kirk’s most likely landing spot.

It will be surprising if the Minnesota Vikings don’t trade quarterback Kirk Cousins and his 2022 $35 million guaranteed salary, which comes with a $45 million cap hit, before mid-March.

Carolina, Denver and Cleveland make the most sense for Cousins, who turns 34 in August. New Orleans could also be a destination, but Carolina seems most likely. It’s highly unlikely the Panthers will bring back Cam Newton as their starter.

Cousins probably would need a three-year contract from his new team. A trade might be able to fetch the Vikings a second-round draft pick in return. It also could require the Vikings to pay at least $10 million of Cousins’ current contract. The draft pick could depend on how much of Cousins’ salary the Vikings would have to pay.

Charley Walters – Pioneer Press

Vikings Want Clean Slate

The two remaining finalists for the Vikings’ open GM position, Ryan Poles and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, are young and relatively unknown front office executives who have no prior experience working with Cousins. Poles gets partial credit for discovering Patrick Mahomes and Adofo-Mensah is known for his ability to evaluate quarterbacks using his own analytics models.

Why hire either candidate just to keep Kirk Cousins? The logic isn’t there. If the Wilfs are dedicated to sweeping changes for next season and beyond, they can’t justify keeping #8 on roster.

But Charley Walters isn’t another pontificating fan relying on nothing but his own logic to find answers that don’t exist. If Shooter uses his bi-monthly column to tell us that he expects Cousins to be traded, then we should all assume that’s what will happen.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan