{"id":761038,"date":"2026-02-18T21:06:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T21:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/761038\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T21:06:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T21:06:25","slug":"vikings-rumor-pinpoints-former-84-million-pro-bowl-quarterback-as-minnesotas-top-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/761038\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings rumor pinpoints former $84 million Pro Bowl quarterback as Minnesota’s top target"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vikings rumor pinpoints former $84 million Pro Bowl quarterback as Minnesota’s top target<\/a> originally appeared on The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Minnesota Vikings<\/a> will be in the market for a veteran quarterback this offseason to compete with J.J. McCarthy, and it looks like the franchise could be reuniting with an old friend to fill the need.<\/p>\n

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According to SportsBoom’s Jason La Canfora<\/a>, executives around the league believe Kirk Cousins returning to Minnesota once he is cut by the Atlanta Falcons<\/a> is a realistic possibility.<\/p>\n

La Canfora also added a nugget about McCarthy, stating that league sources have told him that the Michigan product is tricky to develop.<\/p>\n

“There is now a growing sentiment among NFL executives in the market for quarterbacks that Cousins could very well end up back with the Vikings,” La Canfora said. “McCarthy has proven to be difficult to be develop, according to multiple league sources, with his erratic play playing no small role in the franchise recently moving on from its general manager.”<\/p>\n

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McCarthy had a rough 2025 season filled with injuries and erratic play. His abysmal showing in his technical rookie year played a part in the firing<\/a> of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mendasa, who used the No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on the young signal-caller.<\/p>\n

It’s clear Minnesota needs to bring in another quarterback to compete with McCarthy, and Cousins would be the perfect signing.<\/p>\n

The 37-year-old already has experience in Kevin O’Connell’s offense, and played well in eight starts for the Falcons<\/a> in 2025, tossing 10 touchdowns and six interceptions with a 5-3 record.<\/p>\n

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Due to his age, Cousins will be cheap to sign, but he can still be a viable starter. Adding the four-time Pro Bowler to push McCarthy would be a logical move by\u00a0Rob Brzezinski, the Vikings’ de facto general manager.<\/p>\n

More NFL News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vikings rumor pinpoints former $84 million Pro Bowl quarterback as Minnesota’s top target originally appeared on The Sporting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":761039,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2073],"tags":[254,7,1519,101377,294,108631,233,259,2529,6,1257,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-761038","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-atlanta-falcons","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-j-j-mccarthy","11":"tag-jason-la-canfora","12":"tag-kirk-cousins","13":"tag-league-sources","14":"tag-minnesota","15":"tag-minnesota-vikings","16":"tag-minnesotavikings","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-quarterback","19":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116093674646033631","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761038","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=761038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/761039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=761038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=761038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}