Will the Vikings trade Cousins?
By: Jeremy Trottier
Kirk Cousins has been one of the more controversial quarterbacks in terms of what to do with him and how to handle his contract. Guaranteeing him a base salary of $35 million in 2022 will certainly make things harder for Minnesota, as his dead cap hit would be enormous. However, being able to run through that dead cap a year sooner may be worth it if they can get a young QB in there, or even give someone on the roster a shot. With that, in this article, I will be going over the pros and cons of trading Kirk Cousins, in a short, bulleted format, and then deciding whether or not Minnesota should trade him this offseason or not.
Pros
- The first pro of trading Kirk Cousins would be allowing the team to fully commit to a youth movement. Moving on from the 33 soon-to-be 34-year-old QB allows the Vikings to fully push for youth, and this may be good for a player such as Justin Jefferson as it shows they are trying to improve and not just be stagnant.
- The second pro of trading Kirk Cousins would be as I mentioned previously, allowing a young quarterback to take over. With Kellen Mond on the roster and having a year to learn the offense, it could be time to let him take a shot at starting. Another note is that the Vikings could choose to draft a QB, and while it is not an exceptional class they would likely have a few good options at the 12th overall pick.
- The third and final pro to trading Cousins would be getting value back for him, especially with the QB class being somewhat mediocre seemingly. The Vikings could get a pick or two for Cousins for sure, likely during day 2, and that is more than they would get by keeping him another year and then letting him walk in the 2023 free agency. More draft capital is always nice and helps push more towards youth as previously mentioned.
Cons
- The dead cap would be the main con in trading Cousins, as right now they would be looking at roughly $45 million if they were to cut him prior to June first. However, if they found a suitable partner to trade with, they would only be looking at $10 million in dead cap space and a savings of $35 million. Weighing this cost will be the difference between the cap being a pro or a con.
- The other con to trading Kirk would be the NFC being weaker than it has been in a long time. Tom Brady is gone, and the Bucs are looking at a lot of free agents this offseason potentially leaving. The Packers are dealing with potentially losing Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams. The Rams are aging, but are still in contention. There is a good chance that the Vikings would take the division with Kirk at the helm if Rodgers and Davante leave, so losing out on this would be a potential cost to trading him.
Analysis
My view on the situation? Trade him. As much as it may be worth the potential playoff run, the ability to get a rebuild/reload moving faster and get some HUGE savings for this free agency period would be enormous for the Vikings. $35 million in a very top-heavy free agency class would be great to build a defense and get moving quickly on team restructuring. Showing players like Jefferson, Darrisaw, and Cook that you are committed to quickly fixing the team and not accepting failure is great for morale and keeping them all in-house.
