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GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN – OCTOBER 29: Kirk Cousins #8 of the Minnesota Vikings takes to the field prior to a game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on October 29, 2023 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
The Minnesota Vikings are looking for some reinforcement at the quarterback position after a 2025 season that did not exactly put a mountain of reassurance behind incumbent starter, JJ McCarthy.
McCarthy’s Vikings career is hardly dead in the water after just one year as a starter. But there is a general feeling around the league that if things don’t start to look up sooner rather than later, then his time in Minnesota as the starting QB could be limited.
Regardless of the outlook at the position over the next few months, the Vikings seem to be intent on having a veteran signal caller on the roster, both to help McCarthy develop further as a passer and to give the franchise insurance incase of further poor play and/or injuries.
One option that has been floated around recently is the possibility of a Kirk Cousins reunion in Minneapolis. Cousins had the best years of his career in the MidWest, and his winningest single-season under head coach, Kevin O’Connell back in 2022.
However, according to team legend and Hall of Famer, Jared Allen, this is not the route the Vikings should pursue in the offseason, speaking on Kay Adams’ ‘Up and Adams’ podcast.
#Vikings HOF Jared Allen on if he would welcome a Kirk Cousins reunion in Minnesota:
“No. In his prime we weren’t winning championships with him.”
Jared Allen Unenthused By Prospect of Kirk Cousins Return
“If Kirk Cousins came back, would you welcome him?” Adams asked Allen. To which the former All-Pro defensive end answered, “No, in his prime we weren’t winning championships with him.”
Championships are not just a one-man game, just ask Nick Foles, Jalen Hurts or Sam Darnold over the past decade alone. But quarterbacks are an unbelievably key part of the puzzle, even for defensive-lead teams like the Vikings were this past season.
And even in Cousins’ best years, as Allen points out, he has only made it to the Divisional Round of the playoffs once, and has never seen a Conference Championship game. Indeed, despite the talent around him, the four-time Pro Bowler has managed double-digit win seasons – regular and post – just twice in his 11 years as a starter and 14 years in the league.
Minnesota was rarely a true competitor with Cousins in charge; something that changed drastically the very year after the former fourth round pick left and was replaced with Sam Darnold, with whom the Vikings managed a 14-3 season.
Even this past year in 2025, the Vikings still went 9-8 with the misfit combination of JJ McCarthy, Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer.
Would Cousins Be Better Than the Alternative QB Options?
At the same time, anyone thinking that Minnesota is capable of finding a price-conscious quarterback on the free agent open market this spring who can help the team contend in and of himself is unserious.
Realistically, the team should look for a solid, veteran backup with starting experience and upside. And Cousins has all three.
Granted, he does not have the possibility to shine and consummate youth of someone like Kyler Murray. But Murray could prove to be borderline useless in helping McCarthy take next steps, and could threaten locker room dynamics, having been labelled as “immature” and “self-centred” in the past.
Daniel Arwas Daniel Arwas is a sports writer who covers the NFL for Heavy.com. Daniel began his career in sports writing in 2022 and has covered the NFL and college football for Gridiron Heroics and The Hammer. More about Daniel Arwas
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