Imagine, if you will:
Somewhere in the basement of TCO Performance Center, Kevin O’Connell and J.J. McCarthy are watching the Super Bowl. O’Connell’s eyes were bloodshot from the past month, wrapping up a 9-8 season and watching Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s dismissal. He was also fighting tears of rage as Sam Darnold hoisted the Lombardi Trophy after defeating Drake Maye in a battle of two quarterbacks the Vikings could have had.
In the other corner of the room, McCarthy was practicing some mannerisms from an Under Armour commercial he saw when he was six years old. Just as he was about to start barking to show he had that dawg in him, a bright light appeared off in the distance. The glow became brighter, and it turned out it wasn’t just one light.
It was the pair of headlights on a 1987 Ford conversion van.
The man was approaching the facility, driving two miles an hour under the speed limit and obeying traffic laws just to be safe. The opening chords of Creed’s hit song “Higher” blared through the cassette player, and Kirk Cousins stepped out of the door and said, “I hear you need a quarterback.”
O’Connell’s tears of rage became tears of joy. Cousins was the security blanket who saved jobs during his time in Minnesota, and could do the same as the Minnesota Vikings are uncertain about their future at quarterback. It’s a pipe dream that some fans have longed for since Cousins’s departure, but could a reunion really save the Vikings?
To many people, the answer is yes. The Atlanta Falcons are about to release Cousins, and he’ll be free to choose his next destination. With the Vikings struggling at quarterback, Cousins could come in and be the baseline that O’Connell didn’t have with McCarthy a year ago.
While the Vikings wound up with a winning record, they could have done more if Cousins were under center. Minnesota’s defense is better than anything that Cousins had during his previous stint with the Vikings, and O’Connell was the supportive father figure who propped Cousins up after years of feuding with Mike Zimmer.
There is also the supporting cast that will be on the field with Cousins. We already know that Cousins has a rapport with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, and that group could become deeper if they find a way to bring back Jalen Nailor this offseason. Cousins could also revive T.J. Hockenson’s career after two lost seasons and bring the offense back to its stable floor.
Most importantly, the franchise would be relevant again. Cousins could get the Vikings back to the playoffs wearing his signature chain every step of the way. The camp battle between McCarthy and Cousins would immediately go viral, as Kirko Chainz battles Nine in a feud that could main-event SummerSlam later this year.
All of this sounds great until the alarm clock goes off and O’Connell awakens from his slumber. Bringing in Cousins, who also has previous experience in his offense, looks like a great scenario. However, other factors could lead the Vikings to make a different decision.
The first is that Cousins will turn 38 during next year’s training camp. Cousins and Vikings fans have always envisioned that he’d play forever. While he played better another year from the torn Achilles that ended his time in Minnesota, he didn’t look great, completing 61.7% of his passes for 1,721 yards, 10 touchdowns, and five interceptions.
Unless the Vikings are getting their version of the ageless Gordie Howe, the ball could drop at any moment. Such a scenario would leave them scrambling back to McCarthy. If he hasn’t absorbed the fundamentals and playbook, the Vikings would fall even further, perhaps costing O’Connell his job.
Then there is the matter of salary. With $321.4 million in career earnings, Cousins is the third-highest-grossing quarterback in NFL history, per Over The Cap. His chances of chasing down Aaron Rodgers ($395.8 million) and Matthew Stafford ($408 million) are likely over, but he didn’t get to this point by taking nostalgia discounts.
The Vikings opted not to offer him a $180 million contract in 2024, and Cousins could see this as a slight and make up for lost earnings. A lot of this is speculative, but he could also have a big check waiting for him as an analyst for CBS or another major media network, and he was in true “Head of the Negotiation Table” form when an SI reporter asked about the potential for a reunion during Super Bowl week.
“I kind of keep an open mind and those conversations with the Falcons will happen in March and kind of see where it all goes,” Cousins said. “But I’ve learned through my 14 years that anything can happen. I don’t really know what to expect. I think what I’ve learned is to not try to predict or say what I think is gonna happen, and who knows where it goes.”
These are the kind of quotes that Cousins sent out into the world before cashing in with the Falcons. It’s also fitting for a player who renegotiated his contract with Atlanta earlier this offseason, pushing $67 million that is set to become guaranteed at the start of the new league year.
Unless the Vikings want to compete with a CBS check that could be eight figures, or perhaps get into a bidding battle with another desperate franchise, Cousins wouldn’t be the low-risk, cheap option that the Vikings want. That’s Minnesota’s biggest problem right now.
Chasing Cousins if he becomes available isn’t the issue. It’s that the Vikings are more obsessed with their floor than their ceiling. Sure, Cousins could come to Minnesota and get them back to the playoffs. But even if they won a game, it wouldn’t feel like any progress toward winning a championship.
The Vikings tried this with Cousins for six years, beginning as a highly paid mercenary and ending as the guy who made sure they didn’t become the New York Jets or the pre-Dan Campbell Detroit Lions. Having a steady floor is great. However, players like Jefferson, who was on “crash out” watch all of last season, aren’t concerned with that. They want to win a championship.
It’s unknown what the real answer is to that problem. But Kirk Cousins wouldn’t be anything more than a nostalgia act and another anchor on the Vikings’ championship dreams.