![\"Kirk](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/kirk-cousins-atlanta-falcons_236457.jpg\")
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(Photo by Ishika Samant\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Over the last few days, the rumor linking Kirk Cousins to a return to the Minnesota Vikings<\/a> has picked up steam. On Feb. 7, The Athletic\u2019s Dianna Russini got the entire rumor mill started with her reporting on the matter.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m watching to see if the Falcons find any parties interested in [Cousins],\u201d\u00a0Russini wrote in her article<\/a>. \u201cSpeaking of those Vikings, one league source speculated that Cousins could be an option there, given his history with Kevin O\u2019Connell and Minnesota\u2019s desire to bring in competition for young J.J. McCarthy.\u201d<\/p>\n On Feb. 9, ESPN NFL<\/a> insider Adam Schefter shared more details about the future for Cousins, who is expected to be released by the Atlanta Falcons<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cKirk Cousins is expected to be released,\u201c Schefter said on the Feb. 9 edition of the \u201cPat McAfee Show.\u201c<\/a> \u201c[The Falcons] restructured his contract with the idea that he will be released. He\u2019ll be released before the new league year begins. I think he\u2019d like to play, but he\u2019s going to consider all his options. That could include TV, that could include retirement, whatever it is that he wants to do, he\u2019ll have the option to do it. But the Falcons will release him before the start of the new league year, so that\u2019ll be an option for him. <\/p>\n \u201cYou bring up Minnesota. Well, Minnesota is always going to bring in a quarterback. Obviously, they have to do that anyway. The question is, who\u2019s that going to be? I asked Kirk about Minnesota last week, and I didn\u2019t get a no, but I didn\u2019t get a yes. It\u2019s possible, but there are a lot of things out there that are possible with him.\u201d<\/p>\n Vikings Insider Shares Information on Kirk Cousins Rumor<\/p>\n Moreover, The Athletic\u2019s Alec Lewis shared what he knows on the matter and where there\u2019s any interest from Minnesota. After missing the playoffs in the 2025 season, the team needs to improve its QB position this offseason. Lewis\u2019 information looks to be on par with what Schefter reported in his update. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s my understanding that Kirk Cousins will be open to returning to the Vikings, if genuine interest is there, and if the situation feels right (opportunity wise, more than anything), \u201d\u00a0Lewis wrote on Feb. 7 on X<\/a>. \u201cAlso wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see him have other opportunities (teams & TV).\u201d<\/p>\n J.J. McCarthy Gets Positive Outlook Heading Into 2026 Season<\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s Cousins or another QB, the pressure is on J.J. McCarthy to take a major step in his development to ensure he wins any potential competition to be the start next season. <\/p>\n McCarthy had a passer rating of 72.6 with 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions in 10 games in 2025, per StatMuse<\/a>. As a result, this production is causing the Vikings to be linked to QBs, or just in the speculation mill.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, Aaron Jones Sr. is giving a promising outlook on McCarthy, as the\u00a0Michigan Wolverines<\/a> product looks to have an offseason that prepares him better for his third\u00a0NFL season.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re young, you\u2019ve got to learn how to win, \u201c\u00a0Jones said on the NFL Network<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s a process. We went through that process and got over that period. I would say the best part is\u00a0we stuck together. We believed in each other\u00a0and we got it going just a little too late. We still could have \u2014 had we won that Chicago game \u2014 we would have been in the playoffs, and it would have looked a lot different.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we all came together, and that was the most important part. We set the foundation leading into next year. We have all the pieces we need, and J.J. is going to continue to develop, and we\u2019re just going to continue to get better. But we were one game short, and there\u2019s a lot of ball out there left for us to play.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEduardo Razo<\/a> Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Vikings\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty (Photo by Ishika Samant\/Getty Images) Over the last few days, the rumor linking Kirk Cousins to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":742278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[7,233,259,2529,6,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-742277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-vikings","11":"tag-minnesotavikings","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116046064577817701","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/742278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=742277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=742277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}