Kyle Shanahan has long been smitten by Kirk Cousins and has reportedly been open to linking back up after leaving Washington in 2013. Following the San Francisco 49ers’ NFC Championship exit, as the Minnesota Vikings are heading into the offseason, the rumors will only grow. But will the 49ers even want Cousins this time around?
The Los Angeles Rams booted the 49ers from the playoffs on Sunday. Jimmy Garoppolo struggled to find a consistent rhythm and melted down in the fourth quarter. His biggest play came on a 44-yard touchdown to Deebo Samuel, a designed wide-receiver screen pass. Samuel did all the work. It’s left Shanahan and the Niners wondering what could be next for them at quarterback. There appear to be three clear-cut options this offseason.
They could bring back Garoppolo, realizing they were one game away from a Super Bowl appearance. Garoppolo isn’t a top-tier quarterback and doesn’t have great postseason numbers. But the 49ers could believe they have enough talent around him to get to the promised land with him just staying the course and being a slightly above-average quarterback. There are far worse options than Jimmy G.
They could move on under the assumption that they will never get over the hump with Jimmy G. The 49ers used the No. 3-overall pick on Trey Lance. They didn’t select him to have him sit and watch Garoppolo for the next four or five years. A Garoppolo exit would open the door for Lance, a Minnesota native. Nobody would blame San Francisco for doing so.
The last option is where Kirk Cousins could factor in.
If there are reservations about Lance, and the 49ers are ready to move on from Garoppolo, they could get cold feet about the young prospect with a roster loaded with enough talent to win a Super Bowl in the next couple of years. This isn’t a team on the rise. It’s a team that is here and ready to be a consistent threat in the NFC. Suppose they go this route and send Garoppolo elsewhere without turning the keys over to Lance. Maybe they want a proven quarterback. It could open up a Shanahan-Cousins reunion. Then the question is: How much of an upgrade would Cousins be over Jimmy G?
It’s impossible to sit back and objectively argue that Garoppolo or Cousins is leaps and bounds better than the other. Getting Cousins wouldn’t put the 49ers in the driver’s seat, but they may view it as enough of an upgrade to pull the trigger on such a move. On the Vikings’ end, getting Garoppolo or Lance back with picks opens up multiple options for them. However, any deal involving Cousins to San Francisco isn’t comparable to what the Rams did last offseason.
Jared Goff was 19th in EPA in 2020, his final year with the Rams. He was 18th in QBR and struggled to fully grasp and execute Sean McVay’s schemes. The offense lacked energy at times, and Goff was partly to blame.
Conversely, Stafford was third in EPA this year and fourth in QBR this year, his first in LA with McVay. The switch in quarterbacks has been night and day. Stafford’s interceptions were a problem, but he consistently made big plays for LA’s offense and showed that he just needed a fresh start. That isn’t what a Garoppolo-for-Cousins move would be for the 49ers. There’s a difference between these two guys and Goff, but Stafford is on a different level. It would still cost the 49ers a lot for the Vikings to consider doing business. Minnesota has decisions to make, which could result in Cousins being the future of the franchise again.
The Vikings can look at Sunday’s game between the 49ers and Rams and take it one of two ways.
Theory No. 1 says they have all the pieces around Cousins that he could need, and it has only resulted in one postseason berth in four years. Theory No. 2 says Stafford is appearing in a Super Bowl this year, and Cousins isn’t multiple tiers worse than LA’s signal-caller. Minnesota could stick it out, seeing how weak the NFC appears to be looking next year. The premise is that Cousins gives them the best chance to win in 2022 unless San Francisco blows them away with an offer that Minnesota can’t refuse.
All of this circles back to the main point. For all the chatter that will likely be tossed around about Cousins and Shanahan teaming up, will San Francisco even want him at this stage?
If they view him as an obvious upgrade in their own eyes, Minnesota’s phone will likely ring. The most unlikely option for the 49ers is bringing back Garoppolo, and he seems to know the writing is on the wall given his postgame comments following the loss to the Rams. That leaves San Francisco deciding to hand the program over to Lance and praying he hits the ground running, or going with a veteran that they see as an upgrade over Jimmy G.
Regardless of how it goes, it will be a wildly fascinating offseason. Minnesota will have plenty of decisions to sift through. Many could circulate around what the heck they end up doing with Kirk Cousins.
