NFL Insiders Continue to Push Kirk Cousins Back to Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings might be preparing to completely overhauling their defense but there’s been absolutely no sign that’s their plan on offense. Instead, insiders across the league, both locally and nationally, continue to be fed information from sources that the Viking and Kirk Cousins will reunite under a new contract extension in 2022.

The latest report comes from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. But he’s certainly not the first important media person who has said this exact thing in the last couple of weeks.

The Super Bowl LVI @NFLGameDay Notebook with @MikeGarafolo and @TomPelissero: The #Bengals and Zac Taylor will work out a contract extension after today; The #Vikings will hire Kevin O'Connell & keep QB Kirk Cousins; The #49ers will try to trade Jimmy Garoppolo in the next month. pic.twitter.com/RndlQQYYk6

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 13, 2022

"All indications at this point are [Kirk] Cousins is going to be the #Vikings quarterback in 2022. He worked with O'Connell in Washington, Cousins thinks that O'Connell is a brilliant football mind. They are going to have to address Cousins' contract, though."

Per @TomPelissero

— Sean Borman (@SeanBormanNFL) February 13, 2022

If Cousins really does get extended, there will be no rebuild in Eagan. The Vikings, in that scenario, would be competing to win what currently looks like a weak NFC North next season. Of course, holes still have to be filled on offense, most notably the o-line.

But many core pieces on offense are already in place. Jefferson, Cook, O’Neill, Darrisaw, Cleveland, and Osborn all figure to play major roles for Minnesota in 2022. If Kirk is willing to sign a more team-friendly extension, which appears to be the case, it frees up a lot of money to help fill voids that still exist. The defense might need a draft or two to catch up but one would hope a Kevin O’Connell + Kirk Cousins led offense could carry them to some victories in year one.

Smoke Screen

Or maybe, this is all just a smoke screen by the new Minnesota Vikings leaders. If Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is going to trade Kirk Cousins, it would only make sense to push his trade value as high as possible. And how do you do that? By letting the rest of the football world know how much you love him.

If other organizations believe that the new Vikings leadership wants Kirk Cousins in purple, they’ll naturally feel obliged to offer more if they hope to pry him away. Not only that, but the Vikings’ confidence in Kirk will breed more confidence and interest from other teams.

Could Kwesi, O’Connell & Co. be using all of the right media members to push a smoke screen that raises Cousins’ market value? Maybe not, but it certainly wouldn’t be the first time it’s been done.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan