Kevin O’Connell woke up with excitement. It was the morning of the 2023 NFL Draft, and KOC was excited to see if he would get the quarterback he wanted for the new season.
O’Connell sprinted into the war room at TCO Performance Center where Mark and Zygi Wilf sat with a cup of coffee. They were eager to see O’Connell’s reaction to seeing the quarterback they had just picked out.
When the Wilfs handed O’Connell the card – which was strangely wrapped in Christmas paper – he thought about all of the possibilities before ripping it open. O’Connell took one read and had an excited but disappointed look on his face.
“What is it, Kevin?” The Wilfs asked in unison.
“It’s a Kirk Cousins,” O’Connell said. “I was kind of wanting a Lamar Jackson or an Anthony Richardson. Maybe even a Will Levis.”
“Are you crazy?” Mark Wilf replied. “You’ll go 3-14, Kevin!”
Perhaps O’Connell didn’t get the exciting quarterback of the future he wanted. Nor did he get the impact player that could lead the Vikings to the Super Bowl. But when thinking about the quarterback of the future, each one carries a different amount of risk.
Lamar Jackson is the most electric one. He’s exciting, dynamic and one of the true superstars in today’s NFL. He’s the type of player you dream will throw to Justin Jefferson someday, and he’s in his prime at 26 years old.
But the Vikings would need to figure out how they would send two first-round picks while creating an offer sheet crazy enough that the Baltimore Ravens wouldn’t match it. Coming off an injury-riddled season, Jackson’s durability and playing style are in question, meaning it could be too risky for Minnesota to take him on.
The Vikings could also trade up for a quarterback in this year’s draft. Anthony Richardson is another running quarterback with the mobility to add another dynamic to any offense. He also has an arm that rivals a Red Ryder BB gun.
The same could be said for Levis, another Vikings target. Levis was banged up throughout his junior season at Kentucky but ran for nine touchdowns in 2021. He has similar tendencies to Cousins on the field but has an arm that allows him to make throws similar to Josh Allen.
Both are exciting, but they also carry risks.
Richardson only completed 54.7% of his passes during his collegiate career and just 53.8% during his only full year as a starter at Florida. With only 22 games under his belt, Richardson is a raw project that the Vikings would be betting on to be the type of outlier Allen was coming out of Wyoming.
Levis is the same type of prospect. While his 65.4% bested Richardson’s completion percentage last season, he has trouble with ball placement. With double-digit interceptions in back-to-back seasons, his carelessness can be seen as a liability. His age also makes him an outlier the Vikings can’t count on.
Even a prospect such as Hendon Hooker, who has an NFL-caliber arm and above-average mobility, is a massive outlier. He would be the oldest quarterback to be taken in the first round since Brandon Weeden.
If the Wilfs were looking around the toy department and seeing these options, it makes sense that they would lean towards Cousins because he’s like a “Quarterback Ken” doll.
A doll is good symbol of Cousins’ game because it carries very little risk. It’s hard to get hurt by a doll, and you can make it play however you want, which is exactly what the Vikings did with Cousins in 2022.
After an acclimation period, Cousins ran O’Connell’s offense at a peak level toward the end of the season. He was able to make Jefferson one of the most dangerous weapons in the NFL and led the Vikings to their first division title since 2017. Minnesota even took Cousins’ personality to new heights, placing chains on him until he looked like Joe Burrow. Cousins even broke out his golden pipes to sing with Kelly Clarkson.
With a baseline of 4,000 yards, 30 touchdowns, and a Pro Bowl appearance each year, Cousins is a safe option. However, he also has a limited ceiling.
Cousins is entering his age 35 season, which puts him on the edge of the age cliff. Using his 97.8 career passer rating as a barometer, there have only been 23 seasons since the Super Bowl era where a starting quarterback 35 or older has exceeded that threshold. Tom Brady owns six of those seasons. Drew Brees owns five. Peyton Manning? Three. Break it all down and there have only been eight players in NFL history to accomplish this feat.
Additionally, Cousins will need another payday after this season. Although he was reported to request less than the $40 million that Daniel Jones got from the New York Giants, the number likely isn’t enough to help the Vikings fix some of the glaring holes on their roster – especially at a guaranteed salary.
Having an aging quarterback on an astronomical salary isn’t a recipe for competing in today’s NFL. And it’s one that O’Connell acknowledged at the NFL owner’s meetings when talking about the rookie pay scale window.
“The benefits of drafting a QB and having those four years of that player on that pay scale that allows you to build a roster around those players…has been an advantage,” O’Connell said via Alec Lewis of The Athletic. “But at the same time, those QBs that reset the market are franchise-changing players at the most important position in sports.”
Cousins reset the quarterback pay scale with the three-year, $84 million contract he signed upon his arrival in 2018. However, he hasn’t been the franchise changer the Vikings thought they were getting. Minnesota is still among the borderline fringe teams. Good enough to win the division but not good enough to be a real contender.
The total package had O’Connell reading what sounded like a prepared statement when it came to his goals for Cousins in 2023.
“My goal is that 2023 is one of the best seasons Kirk has had playing QB in the NFL,” O’Connell said. “When that happens, I think it’s going to be a really good thing for the Vikings.”
Such is the state the Vikings are in. The Vikings don’t want to take risks, but any quarterback they choose carries some to a degree. While others include the excitement of a new bike, Cousins has the excitement of a pair of socks from your grandparents.
At this point, the Vikings need to think hard and pick a direction to move in…even if it means potentially shooting their eye out.
