The Minnesota Vikings will be without starting quarterback Kirk Cousins for the remainder of the season after Cousins’ Achilles tear in Week 8. And with his contract expiring at the end of the year, there are serious questions about whether he will ever play for the Vikings again.
Even before the injury for Cousins, there were rumors that he could potentially be on the move at the NFL trade deadline. So there isn’t exactly all that much optimism around the league that he will remain a Minnesota Viking.
However, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell made it clear in a press conference on Tuesday that he would love for Cousins to return to the team in 2024.
“Kirk Cousins is going to be healthy again,” O’Connell told reporters via Pro Football Talk. “I know he’s going to be a free agent after this season. But Kirk (Cousins) knows how I feel about him and that will be something, you know, that hopefully will work itself out. You guys know how I feel about Kirk. Kirk knows how I feel about Kirk. I think he was playing as well as anybody in the National Football League.”
As O’Connell stated, Cousins was playing quite well before his unfortunate injury. Through eight games, he had thrown for 2,331 yards to go along with 18 touchdowns and just five interceptions.
It’s great that O’Connell seems to want Cousins back. But that may not necessarily be the right decision for the Vikings franchise if they are looking for the future.
Cousins is 35 years of age, and it may be wise for the team to go in a different direction. This is especially true if they struggle down the stretch of the season and find themselves in a position to draft one of the top quarterbacks in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft.