Nothing like a good, old-fashioned Kirk Cousins hot take to spice things up before the season kicks off.
This offseason has been an odd one for fans of NFC North teams. The hierarchy in the division feels volatile and unsettled. After almost two decades, Aaron Rodgers has finally vacated the division, leaving a bit of a power vacuum. Things are so weird that the Detroit Lions are favored to win the division for the first time in 32 years.
Perhaps even more topsy-turvy: Doesn’t it feel, for the first time in Cousins’ tenure in Minnesota, like the fanbase is finally comfortable with him as the quarterback?
Cousins has been polarizing since the moment he inked his deal with Minnesota, and the exhausting debates around him have been incessant. Can he get it done in prime time? Can he win in the playoffs? And can he win a Super Bowl?
The Vikings have toyed with replacing Kirk on multiple occasions now, most recently with the possibility of moving up for Justin Fields in 2021. There’s the seemingly annual routine of extension talks as the Vikings go back and forth as to whether to hitch their future to Cousins year after year.
But, for at least the near future, it feels like that narrative has vanished.
Maybe it was winning 13 games. Maybe it was the Netflix documentary Quarterback or the Kirko Chainz bit. Or maybe it’s just a look around the division that made Vikings fans start to appreciate what they have. Because, while the grass may seem greener in some situations, it certainly doesn’t in others.
Hence my core premise: If you could swap the Vikings QB situation with anyone else in the division, would you?
Let’s start by discussing the real puzzlers here, which are the two young, talented quarterbacks in the division.
Justin Fields and Jordan Love represent the classic schools of thought for teams seeking franchise quarterbacks. They’re young, high-upside players with the potential of turning into franchise stars if they can ever put it together. They’ve shown flashes of potential that get their respective fanbases bought in. However, they’ve also juxtaposing those highlights with enough poor play to keep them from being viewed as surefire answers under center like Justin Herbert or Trevor Lawrence.
If you ask some of their rabid supporters, the question I’m proposing is comical. I spoke with a lifelong Chicago Bears fan at a wedding this offseason who challenged me to name any quarterback not named Mahomes or Allen who I’d take to build a franchise around over Justin Fields. It was a funny conversation, considering it took all of about 12 seconds to name several players that our table agreed would be surefire picks over Fields.
I kindly reminded him that, for all the pre-draft potential that may still be waiting to be unlocked in Fields, we are still waiting on him to actually show he’s actually an above-average NFL starter. While this funny little anecdote is certainly a small sample size, many Bears fans feel similarly.
But if you disagree with my assessment, then that’s fine. Don’t just take my word for it.
The Athletic’s Mike Sando had Fields near the bottom of his Tier 3 of quarterbacks. He compiles his list with votes from “ 50 league insiders… including eight general managers, 10 head coaches, 15 coordinators, 10 executives, four quarterbacks coaches, and three involved in coaching/analytics.”
Tier 3 is reserved for “legitimate starters that need a heavier running game and/or defensive component to win.” In his current state, Fields is a guy you can win with, but he isn’t singlehandedly driving the team’s success. Fields sits at 21, just above Ryan Tannehill and Mac Jones on Sando’s list.
And he found himself there largely because of his ability as a runner. It would be unfair to judge him without that essential component of his game, but without his legs, we’d be talking about a bottom-five quarterback. The question for Fields is whether that’s entirely on him, bad pass protection, lackluster receiving options, or a combination of the three. They’ve removed some of that uncertainty with personnel moves on offense this offseason, so we’ll find out whether Fields can return to form as the guy who lit up the Big 10 in college.
Then there’s Jordan Love, the guy tasked with following up two franchise legends. Green Bay fans have had Hall of Fame-level quarterback play since 1992, and now Love is going to have to try and live up to that.
In all honesty, we have no idea who Love really is. We’ve got one start, three touchdown passes, three interceptions, and 83 total pass attempts to judge him on. He was drafted as a raw, athletic talent in need of development. Has sitting these past few years given him that opportunity? Love has flashed at times this preseason, but has also seemed inconsistent in his processing. Green Bay has until the end of the 2024 season to figure out if he can improve before he’s a free agent. Love came in at 26 on Sando’s list, firmly in Tier 4 as an unproven player and lower-tier commodity.
Still, this is a huge opportunity (and risk) for Love and head coach Matt LaFleur to prove they can establish themselves out from under Rodgers’ shadow.
Jared Goff is the most comparable player to Cousins in the NFC North. The Detroit Lions quarterback played exceptionally well last year, establishing himself as the ideal system quarterback for the up-and-coming coaching star in offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
He was accurate, got the ball out of his hands, and played well within the system. At this point, we’ve got a pretty solid picture of who Goff is. But at 28 years old, he’s still got a chance to ascend a bit. He came in at 15 on Sando’s list, near the top of the Tier 3 options.
Goff is solid and steady. Fields is volatile and needs a lot of development as a passer, but he has a clearly established floor as a runner to build on. Love is a complete enigma, wrapped in a mystery, and drizzled with secret sauce.
Then there’s Kirk Cousins.
Cousins came in at 12, right at the bottom of Tier 2 of Sando’s list. Tier 2 players are defined as quarterbacks who can carry their teams sometimes, albeit not as consistently, and who are capable of handling pure passing situations in doses. They are elevated clearly above Tier 3, but may have a few holes in their game.
For the most part, I’d say that’s a fair evaluation of Cousins.
Any Vikings fan can point out the holes in Kirk’s game. He doesn’t handle interior pressure well, can struggle when the play gets off-script, and his attitude swings from aggressive to check-down wizard far too sporadically. The guy is capable of throws that win games like against the Buffalo Bills or in the comeback against the Indianapolis Colts. Yet, he’s also guilty of the fourth-and-eight check down against the New York Giants in the playoffs.
That said, Cousins is clearly the most established, capable player on this list. He’s an exceptionally accurate downfield passer, with a veteran’s knowledge of the game and full control of his offense. When he’s protected and given quality weapons, he’ll dice you up.
And that’s why he’s exactly what the Vikings need right now, especially with Justin Jefferson.
Minnesota has a bonafide superstar in his prime. Jefferson is a generational talent and franchise player, and the Vikings can’t waste his best years. I’d love to eventually see Jefferson paired with a true Tier 1 passer like Mahomes or Burrow. However, I’m not sure I’m willing to risk that if it means wasting multiple years of his prime watching a player like Love or Fields try to figure it out.
Cousins is good enough to allow Jefferson to play like the best receiver in football. If the other pieces around them come together, then that duo may indeed be capable of winning it all. I can’t necessarily say the same if Jefferson was paired with Field’s inaccuracy or Love’s slow processing. Both of them may be able to elevate their games and make me eat these words, but we certainly haven’t seen it yet.
If we’re comparing Goff and Cousins, the only advantage Goff, 28, has is age. But while Cousins may indeed fall off athletically eventually, 35 years old is no longer past your prime for many pocket passers. Cousins has a play style that could keep him at this level for several more years.
That’s the funny thing about this conversation. I don’t think it would be unreasonable for a Bears fan to reject the idea of trading Fields for Cousins. For a franchise in a completely different place, I understand swinging for the fences on Fields’ potential.
Eventually, Minnesota is going to need to start preparing for their post-Cousins future, but they’ve got the best quarterback in the division for the time being. While Vikings fans may have their gripes about their goofy, dad jokin’, Kohl’s cashin’, youth pastor vibin’ quarterback, I’d take him over anyone else in the division any day of the week.
