Mike Florio and Chris Simms question what the Vikings were willing to offer Kirk Cousins and how that differed from his deal with Atlanta. #NBCSports #ProFootballTalk #KirkCousins
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Were Vikings ‘naïve’ with their attempt to keep Kirk Cousins? | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC
https://www.youtube.com/NFLonNBC
And I just wonder were were they naive here did they think they were going to have a fair shot what was the number they offered those are the things I can’t wait for you to find out or one of us to find out was where was their their
Number right where they were like well we’re not going past 40 right I mean what what was it that was the line of demarcation to go we’re not going past there sorry Kirk we’ll see you later uh that that’s what I’d be really interested to know all we knew was they weren’t gonna
Do a fully guaranteed deal and the Falcons didn’t do a fully guaranteed deal and we were kicking around some numbers yesterday we were kind of on it at 45 I said three and 135 with 75 I think guaranteed like two years and half of a third year like we were kind of on
Where it was going it ended up being two full years guaranteed and then part of the third year triggers in 2025 for cousins and and again I just I wonder because I think if the Vikings knew that that’s where it was going you you know that’s how you manage
The situation and tap out affirmatively if you’re the Vikings and you you create the impression with your fan base that you’ve made the conscious decision that we’re going to move on now maybe they just want to be nice to him maybe they don’t want to end it on a bad note but
It’s it’s not an easy task from a PR standpoint to work your way through a situation like this and there there there are going to be some awkward moments and that’s why the statement came out so quickly yesterday from qu a doam Mena saying that they have layers of contingencies at the quarterback
Position and putting the best possible spin on and I don’t frankly I don’t know how many vikings look this is the love him not side yeah I got you I know but but I as you might imagine I know plenty of Vikings fans being in this position
For as long as I have and talking about it openly you hear from people hell I’ve you know I’ve made some of my family members who otherwise would have had no business being Vikings fans into Vikings fans over the years including my nephew who texted me a gift that says God is
Real after Kurt Cousins left so there’s a lot there’s a lot of Vikings fans that are popping bottles not shedding tears today although I still think that they should have seen this through to the end yeah well here here’s what I think they’ll look for right if they were in
The ballpark and somewhat close to this offer of the Atlanta Falcons it’s going to come out it’ll get it’ll get out there I think because of what you’re saying like it’ll be about Saving Face a little bit and being a little to the fan base like look we offered him this we
Weren’t that far off he didn’t want to be here right now if it’s in a different Stratosphere and there was a huge gap and Atlanta was willing to pay a ton more money then yeah I don’t think we’re going to hear those numbers but that is
Kind of what I kind of look for here in the next few days cuz if those kind of leak out the numbers leak out that’s you know that to me is like hey they put a pretty good offer out there and Kirk Cousins didn’t didn’t want to be there
So we’ll we’ll we’ll see where this goes but either way Sam darnold’s the start or as of now will be the starting quarterback when otaa start and we’ll see if he’s the starting quarterback when it becomes week one are they going to do it are they going to draft a
Quarterback uh I think it’s going to be interesting to see what the Vikings do in this process all it’s Florio thanks for watching PFT on YouTube hit subscribe for the latest news and Analysis from pro football talk
27 Comments
Here’s what I think. I’m willing to take fliers so I could be wrong but most likely I’m right. The Vikings were at best on-the-fence at really keeping Cousins. They probably knew that it was good “optics” for their fans to pretend to and to say the right things. But in reality they knew better than anyone than Cousins is 1-3 in the playoffs and, while he’s an excellent passer, he’s really not a mobile QB and that’s what they need. Plus Cousins is 35, coming off serious injury, and wants a guaranteed contract. So they say, “We want Cousins to retire as a Viking!” but secretly hope he bails so they don’t have to pay him BUT they have plausible deniability with their fans they tried to sign him. The Vikings might be down a bit this year but ultimately this is good for their franchise. They need a good, young QB that can throw and run. It just might take awhile to find that guy but when they do they’ll be better for it. Someone is out there right now who will be the Vikings “forever quarterback” no later than September of 2025.
Vikings were offering a 4 year deal. You’ve been hating on Kirk all these years now suddenly ya bothered.
The NFL isn't immune to the effects of Inflation & the fact is $1.00 in 2020, 4 years ago, is worth $.80 cents today in 2024 & that's just on Average because some areas of the Economy has suffered worse than others like Groceries. That means Kirk Cousins contract adjusted for Inflation is $80 Million Guaranteed & possibly 160 Million over 4 Years.
They did see it through to the end, it came yesterday.
I thought it was being reported that the Vikings never made an offer.
Last spring Kirk wanted to extend Kirk by one year and pay him 35 million dollars. Kirk said I will play 23 24 and 25 for less than 35 million dollars say 30 million and Kwesi agreed to 23 24 but would not go to 25. Okay so Cousins offered a home town discount. It would have cost the Vikings 90 million. Kwesi said no to Cousins because of 25. So the Wall St Gambler gambled no other team would want Cousins and he'd get him on his terms. Cousins said then I will go to Free Agency and see what is out there in FA Cousins got 2 offers 78 million from the Vikings and 180 million from the Falcons in real terms Kirk got more money from ATL but he was hurt by Kwesi's rejection and he got 25 guaranteed but ATL has a better chance to win a SB then MIN they are a much better team than MIN.
Cousins is the opposite of today's entitled athlete he bet on himself AGAIN and he won again. Look at Washington on offense and at QB since he left. ANOTHER mistakes in Kwesi's arsenal of mistakes. There's an old saying> F@#$ Around And Find Out.
Vikings offered 1 year full guaranteed 39 million and year not fully guaranteed 39 million and 45 45 fully guaranteed is what he got from ATL plus ATL is a better team
I believe word around here is it was a 2 year offer in the $75-$80 million range 1 fully guaranteed year. Even though i believe KOC did want kirk if the Vikings really wanted him last offseason he was trying to get a 2 year extension at the same terms as his existing contract 35 mil and the Vikings declined. I liked kirk but the Vikings weren’t going near what the falcons did they basically bid against themselves
No Vikings fan cares that Cousins is gone. Was he good? Yes. Was he the answer? No. They let it be known last year, that it was time to move on. MN didn't lose out on anything by letting Cousins leave.
It’s a BLESSING HE IS GONE . 1 playoff win after a decade plus in the NFL .
i dont get this headline…they wanted to move off him and it was not about doing all they could to keep him
they played it just right
Florio is such a tool Viking fan.
If the Vikings wanted him, they would have paid him what Atlanta offered. They clearly were fine letting him go and I don’t blame them. Now they come out on top from a PR perspective because they offered him a contract and he ditched them for more money. Kirk is a conservative Republican, it’s all about the money. I don’t know why anyone is over analyzing this. Vikings get to start fresh and Atlanta gets to maybe make the playoffs and have a Pro Bowl QB. Win win
Florio might be the most out of touch Vikings fan there is. Judging from his free agency moves, Kwesi was absolutely prepared for how to invest the money and he's cooking.
I like the moves, hope we can draft a QB. If nothing else, excited to see what BFlo can do with this defense.
I’m not a Vikings fan, but after a couple years of watching this team from across the league…. It’s becoming increasingly more obvious that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is a TERRIBLE GM.
Viking never invested in their oline.
They were not naive. They knew how much he was worth and were not going to pay more than that. The Falcons are actually naive to think they'll somehow get a beter result with Kirk.
The Vikings didn't want to keep Cousins. Whatever the cost etc, KOM and KOC don't want to define their tenure in Minnesota with a QB who isn't theirs and who, despite some impressive statistical numbers, hasn't won very much and hasn't got anywhere near a superbowl. The Vikings' brain trust want a fresh start with a young QB. And you can't realistically rebuild the roster, and pay JJ, with $45+ million tied up with one player.
Not naive, SMART!
As a Vikings fan, I want to see a QB that we draft turn into a top-5 guy. Green Bay has done it three times in a row. It always felt like we were renting Kirk and now he's gone on to a bigger payday.
Hey Floria he wasn't even drafted here, who cares, Jim McMahon won a playoff game in one year with the Vikes, where it took 6 for Kirk, leave and get your money. See yah
He assumes vikings tried to keep Kirk. They offered something because he's worth something but they weren't interested in fighting for Kirk.
LIAR. They wanted to move on from Cousins unless they could get him on a favorable deal.
Being a true fan since 1971 and grew up two blocks from Met Stadium I don't understood you guys? These glowing comments about the wonderful Kirk Cousins? You really believe one playoff victory in 6 years, 200m dollars merits being an elite QB? Us real fans know he can't extend the play, he's one dimensional and folds under the pressure of a great defence! We didn't want him to stay and bankrupt our team. Instead rebuild with a feared defence, a dual threat QB and true Leadership that never gives up! So please stop with this garbage as captain Kirk only wants the money. He got the money but he won't get a ring!!!
Speak for yourself! The Vikings now suck! Darnold is a joke! Vikings fans love being in last place. This team officially sucks!
I think Florio is Naive! The Vikings knew they were moving on from Cousins. They said nice words publicly. That is part of the plan to let Cousins go. There was probably a huge gap in offers. Vikings want to regain that cap space to rebuild the team.