All options on table for Kirk Cousins in 2024, including re-signing with Vikings

Kevin O’Connell, the coach hopes Kirk Cousins will return to Minnesota Vikings in 2024: He ‘knows how I feel about him’

Will Minnesota Vikings bring back Kirk Cousins?

Not only did the news that Kirk Cousins will miss the rest of the 2023 season due to an Achilles tear hit the Vikings like a ton of bricks on October 29, but it also raised the issue of whether or not this was the end of their collaboration.

Perhaps not.

As of this past Wednesday, three days after Cousins’ injury, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah stated, “every option is still available with Kirk.” That involves going back to Minnesota to complete the work started by Cousins, head coach Kevin O’Connell, and the rest of the team.

After this season, Cousins will be a free agent after earning $30 million through the final year of his most recent agreement, which the two parties agreed to play out. Cousins can’t be franchised and can’t be traded because of his no-trade clause.

All of this caused several clubs, especially those in need of a quarterback, to believe that Kirk Cousins would depart the Vikings after the 2023 draft.

Today the Vikings will play youngster Jaren Hall against the Falcons, and they have the opportunity to choose a quarterback in 2024. However, reports indicate that a return of DeMarcus Cousins may be paired with this action.

When the season ended, Cousins had the highest passer rating (103.8) of his career and was second in the NFL in passing yards (2,331). He had guided the club out of a 1-4 hole back to 4-4 — even with Justin Jefferson, whose 21-day practice window can be opened this coming week, on injured reserve with a hamstring issue.

In particular, O’Connell has been quite vocal about how he feels about his quarterback. The coach told the press this week, “Kirk knows how I feel about him, and that’ll hopefully work itself out.”

Cousins won’t be 100 percent by March, when free agency begins, when physicals are often completed. It should be possible for teams to learn enough about Cousins’ recovery to determine if he will be ready to play by training camp.

Chris Coetzee, a foot and ankle specialist and member of the Vikings medical staff, performed surgery on Cousins, providing the team with unique access to medical information. That should give the Vikings the confidence to strike a deal if that’s the goal, and it could make it simpler to reach an agreement in free agency when they have exclusive bargaining power.

Even after undergoing significant surgery, there are clubs in need of a quarterback that would be interested in signing one of the finest in the NFL. Cousins has worked hard enough to be able to shop around in free agency.

At the very least, moving back to Minnesota may be the answer.

Kirk’s Career Highlights

Early years in Illinois: When Kirk Cousins was a young boy living in Barrington, Illinois, he used to spend his free time participating in flag football games.

School year: Kirk Cousins attended Holland Christian High School throughout his high school years, where he was active in three different sports. After breaking his ankle during his junior year of high school, Kirk wasn’t sure whether he would ever be able to play football at the Division I level again. Kirk completed his high school career with a passing yardage total of 3,204, a touchdown score of 40, and an interception total of 18.

College year: Kirk Cousins was an outstanding student-athlete at Michigan State, where he excelled under the tutelage of Coach Mark Dantonio. He guided Michigan State to an 11–2 (7–1) record and a share of the Big Ten Championship in 2010, the year he was head coach. In 2011, the Spartans finished the season with an 11–3 (7–2) record and participated in the very first Big Ten championship game in history.

On January 2, 2012, Kirk Cousins played his final game as a Michigan State Spartan, which was a victory over Georgia Bulldogs in the Outback Bowl. The coaches chose Kirk for All-Big Ten Second Team, and he was honored with this honor. His teams overcame their in-state rivals, the Michigan Wolverines, with a perfect record of four wins and zero losses. Kirk was the recipient of the 2011 Lowes Senior CLASS Award, and he is the second player in MSU football history to be selected as a captain by his peers on three separate occasions.

WASHINGTON REDSKINS: The Washington Redskins selected Kirk in the fourth round of the NFL draft in 2012, placing him 102nd overall. Kirk was given the role of starting quarterback to begin the 2015 campaign, and he did not disappoint. They went on to end the season with a record of 9-7, which was good enough to win the NFC East Division, and they made it to the playoffs for the first time in four years. During cousins redskins tenure with the Washington franchise, Kirk established a number of new marks.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS: In March of 2018, Kirk agreed to terms with the Minnesota Vikings that would see him play for them over the course of a fully guaranteed three-year contract. Kirk broke the Vikings record for most passes completed in a single season with 425 in 2018, which was also his first year with the team.

His completion percentage of 70.1% was the second-highest mark in the NFL in 2018, the second-highest mark in the history of the club, and the 10th-highest mark in the history of the NFL. In 2019, Kirk Cousins led the Vikings to a victory over the New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. This victory was the Vikings’ first ever to be decided by overtime. Kirk has been selected to play in the NFC Pro Bowl in both 2020 and 2022. A one-year contract extension was signed by Kirk with the Vikings in March of 2022.

Something about his life

Kirk Cousins is a quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings and has been selected to play in the Pro Bowl. Kirk Cousins and his family relocated from the suburbs of Chicago, where he was born and raised, to West Michigan, where he attended Holland Christian Schools and became a three-sport athlete, helping to lead the football team to its first-ever berth in the state playoffs. Kirk also helped lead the basketball team to its first-ever appearance in the state playoffs.

Kirk resumed his football career at Michigan State University (MSU), where he was instrumental in the Spartans’ 2010 Big Ten title run and participated in the conference’s inaugural championship game the following year (2011). In the history of MSU football, Kirk is just the second player to ever serve as captain three times. After graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in kinesiology, Kirk Cousins returned to the university to deliver the keynote presentation at the spring commencement ceremony for the class of 2019. While there, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities.

The marriage between Kirk and his wife, Julie Cousins, took place in 2014, and the couple now has two sons named Cooper and Turner.