Vikings Committed to Cousins

And according to Charley Walters, columnist at the Pioneer Press, the Vikings are still committed to Kirk Cousins going forward. Not just for next year, but beyond.

It’s starting to look like the Minnesota Vikings will have Kirk Cousins as their quarterback again next year, and possibly beyond.

Cousins, 34, already is guaranteed $30 million for the 2023 season, the final year of his contract. He has played well enough through the Vikings’ 4-1 start that the notion of trying to trade him for draft picks to get an elite QB next spring might not be a consideration. If the Vikings continue to win, they wouldn’t get a high enough first-round pick to take a top young QB anyway.

There’s even a distinct possibility now that the Vikings, if Cousins continues to play well, next March could extend him for at least a year, through 2024, when he would be 36. A one-year extension would be expected to cost nearly $40 million.

Charley Walters (Pioneer Press)

Reality Check

I like how Walters covers all of his bases, with this report. It’s not that the Minnesota Vikings don’t want a young, talented, cheap starting quarterback to build a team around. That’s the ideal scenario for any NFL organization.

The 2022 Vikings are 4-1 (hopefully 5-1 after Sunday) and trending toward a playoff team. That means, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell won’t be in a position to grab a top young QB near the front of the draft.

Spending an early 1st round pick on a talented quarterback is a worthy investment/risk for NFL front offices. Without a top-15 QB, winning a super bowl is nearly impossible. But trading away your franchise’ entire future to make it happen, is another question entirely.

The last thing the Minnesota Vikings want to do is jettison an already top-15 QB, just to find themselves in the same boat as the Chicago Bears are with Justin Fields. No future at QB and no draft picks to make up for it. If Kirk Cousins & Co keeps winning, another extension is the right thing to do.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

After 3 days of a stalemate, something pushed the University of Minnesota and Richard Pitino to get his contract extension done. It wasn’t a pretty process, as I lined out earlier today from everything I’ve gathered over the weekend, but they got it done.

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We are excited to announce a two-year extension with @CoachPitinoMN! https://t.co/ieIXEPhe9t

— Minnesota Men's Basketball (@GopherMBB) April 7, 2019

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On the face, it looks like Richard Pitino won the stare-down with Coyle. From what I saw over at GopherIllustrated.com, the offer was only a one-year extension before it was announced a bit earlier today as two years. So why did Coyle give in? Well, if we find out the buyout hasn’t changed and neither has the pay…. how much did Pitino really get out of the stall tactic?

***BELOW WAS REVISED AFTER CONTRACT TERMS RELEASED (Sunday | 3:50 PM)

He saved a bit of face, at the very least, and there’s always something to be said for that in this game. But, the termination clauses didn’t change. What did happen, however, is that Richard can now get out of the deal for cheaper. My understanding was a $2M payment to the University (or something similar). That is now just $500K, making it easier for him to jump at a better offer elsewhere…

My tweet sums up how I feel.

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So, buyout stays the same but Pitino gets additional 2 years instead of 1 (for show: see buyout) and can leave for cheaper if he gets a good offer…

Nobody in this marriage rn is wearing their ring when they leave the house. https://t.co/HnFGe64M8i

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) April 7, 2019

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 “My family and I have loved living in the Twin Cities the last six years,” said Pitino.  “We have met so many wonderful, supportive people.  It’s an honor to be able to continue to lead this Gopher basketball program.  I enjoy working with my athletics director, Mark Coyle, every day.  I would like to thank Mark, President Kaler, and the University for continuing to believe in me. I look forward to continuing to move this special program forward.”

“I am excited for Coach Pitino to continue to lead our men’s basketball program,” said Coyle. “Coach Pitino has developed All-Big Ten players, led deep runs into the Big Ten tournament and earned the school’s ninth-ever NCAA tournament win this year. I look forward to him advancing the program further in the upcoming years.”

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Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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It’s been a big weekend for Minnesota and the Twin Cities, with the festivities of the Final Four flooding town. We always like showing off our state… unless you’re Richard Pitino..

You’d think that this would be a perfect stage to show kids who are watching, listening, and reading about all of the tournament coverage; how great of a place Minnesota is to play basketball. Hell, you just won a tournament game and your city is on fire, holding both a Super Bowl and a Final Four within 14 months of each other. There’s a lot of hope to sell.

But, outside of a few tweets from MOA, where he watched Jordan Murphy play in the 3v3 Tourney, Richard was nowhere to be found.

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⁦@jordanmurphy24⁩ floating on the perimeter as usual! ? #SkiUMah pic.twitter.com/68RMFCrHFe

— Richard Pitino (@CoachPitinoMN) April 6, 2019

Just finished up @mallofamerica to watch @jordanmurphy24 in the @3X3UHoops. Must say, really cool event and amazing venue! Now off to @usbankstadium to watch some great hoops. Love seeing the Twin Cities shine on the national stage! #finalfour2019

— Richard Pitino (@CoachPitinoMN) April 6, 2019

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Meanwhile, PJ Fleck is out here hosting major recruits (for a weekend that literally couldn’t be any better to do that), handing oars to all of the final four teams, and selling MN hope all over media row. Oh, and he has his coaches and captains doing corny videos to sell the Spring Game next weekend (which I am now mentioning in this article because of it). Oh, and then there are these quotes that turn me from 6 to midnight faster than a blue-chew-chewable.

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.@Coach_Fleck said on the 3 Man Podcast yesterday that he's having @GopherFootball study the traditionally non-dominant basketball teams that made the Final Four. “Two of the four teams in the Final Four have never been there. Why can't we be the Texas Tech or the Auburn?”

— Matt Jessen-Howard (@mjessenhoward) April 6, 2019

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But there seems to be a lot more to Pitino’s distance this weekend than just another failed opportunity to be a better recruiter. After seeing some rumors floating around Twitter over the last 48 hours, I decided to jump over to GopherIllustrated.com to see what I could find out about the whispers that were connecting Richard Pitino to job openings around the country. In situations like this, there’s no place I’d rather be..

… and I should have been ready because I quickly found myself in a wormhole that shouldn’t be approached by the faint of heart…

The following has all been confirmed in multiple ways by people I trust both over at GI and elsewhere and it all leads to one place. Richard Pitino and the University of Minnesota are on VERY thin ice with each other at the moment and that ice could thicken back up… or give way to a cold break-up.

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Wow… I think MN and Richard Pitino are getting a divorce…

If not, it’ll be one fractured marriage going forward.

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) April 6, 2019

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When Richard Pitino made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a couple of weeks ago, it was expected that he’d get a contract extension. That’s the way the college basketball world works now. It’s all based on recruiting and really only affects what is paid on either end, if the relationship goes sour. Raises in pay are usually involved too… especially when you win an NCAA Tournament game at a program like Minnesota. But… no such luck for the offer Pitino received, reportedly…

From what I’ve read/heard, it was a low-ball offer. The extension was for just one more year, with no significant raise for Richard and no extra money in the recruiting or assistant coach budgets. The offer seemed to move Pitino deeper into murky job-security waters and farther away from the safe shores of the comfy, big-raise extension that he was hoping for.

Apparently, it was the type of deal that said ‘You’d better make the tournament again next year or you’ll be packing your bags when it’s over.’ (a lot like this season felt like throughout)

Well, if you’re Richard Pitino and you see that shaky extension offer; then realize that the school’s all-time leading rebounder is graduating and your best all-around player hired an agent and declared for the early draft process… it’s difficult to feel safe.

And clearly, that’s how Pitino was feeling because he then picked up the phone and called Arkansas and Virginia Tech about their vacant head coaching positions, in search for possible offers with more security. Those were the first rumors I found on Twitter that got me into this whole sinkhole yesterday.

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Does a private flight from the home of the University of Arkansas to Minneapolis mean anything? Here are the rumors involving Richard Pitino. https://t.co/AAW3JGEced

— Bring Me The News (@bringmethenews) April 5, 2019

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It get’s better.

While Pitino was on the phone with other schools, another coach was making phone calls. Also in the running for the Arkansas job, a familar face landed on the Athletic Department line. In my own head, here is how that secretary-Coyle phone hand-off inside the AD office went (again, this part is pure [gold] speculation):

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— phone rings at UofM Athletic Department

SECRETARY: “Mark! It’s Eric Musselman on line 1!”

COYLE: “Tell him I’m busy and will call back! I told you, no calls this morning! I’m trying to get this shit figured out with Richard. He should have signed that shitty extension hours ago!” (murmurs under breath: I can’t wait to fire that little prick)

SECRETARY: “Eric says he needs to talk to you now. He says it’s URGENT!”

COYLE: “God dammit! I said can’t talk right now! Just ask him WTF he wants!”

(murmuring in the background from secretary as she gets message from Musselman)…

—secretary physically walks into room:

SECRETARY: “He said… he’d be…. VERY interested in our head coaching position… if it opens…”

COYLE:

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 –Side-note: I should write screenplays —

I’m not saying Musselman would be the right guy or that he would be Coyle’s first choice. However, this phone call definitely took place (probably not how I described it) and has all but been confirmed from what I’ve seen and been told. It’s all very intriguing.

So, where do things sit now?

It’s all been at a stalemate for around 48 hours. The ball is in Richard Pitino’s court. Does he sign the low-ball extension or does he look to move on, even if it’s a lateral move? It doesn’t look like Coyle will budge with more of what Pitino wants (likely more $$$ for everything) so that looks to be what the impasse has come to. If Pitino leaves, he’d have to pay a $2M buyout to the school and if he gets fired the school would have to pay the same thing to him.

From what I’ve gathered, Coyle isn’t likely to fire Pitino, where he’d have to pay the buyout and fight off the press, who would want to know why he fired a coach that just made it to the final 32…

… but I wish he would.

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In following all of this over the last 24-48 hours, there is one thing that I’ve come to realize: Richard Pitino is not Mark Coyle’s “guy”. If Coyle doesn’t trust Pitino, then he should foot the $2M, get his media face on, and pull the trigger on the canning. Why kill another season? Right now, the recruiting cupboards are… scattered at best. Let the new guy come in with 3 years left on our new MN Three while filling that cupboard with his guys.

I’m not one to post this sort of background story. Normally, I wait for it all to go public, where I’ll write something about it at that time. But, I don’t know if any of this will actually be reported on major outlets. This seems to have turned into quite the shit storm and everyone has entities to protect…. except for me.

Without more money in the assistant coaching budget, do we see more coaches leave, even if Richard stays? That would be two seasons in a row and Richard relies HEAVILY on his assistants for recruiting. One of his major drawbacks.

Don’t drag this into a Paul Molitor situation. Cut the cord and move on, Mark.

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Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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