Did Kevin O'Connell hint at a Kirk Cousins extension?
Was there a hint about the future of the Vikings' quarterback position in Kevin O'Connell's trade deadline press conference Tuesday?
"Kirk Cousins is going to be healthy again, I know he’s going to be a free agent after this season, but Kirk knows how I feel about him, and that’ll be something that will hopefully work itself out," responded O'Connell when asked about a potential trade for a more long-term solution at quarterback.
O'Connell's "that'll be something that will hopefully work itself out" line certainly reads as a head coach sending a message to his front office that he wants Cousins back.
The Vikings lost Cousins for the season when he suffered a torn Achilles in Sunday's 24-10 win over the Packers. The injury coming 48 hours before the league's trade deadline sent the Vikings scrambling for an answer after the team had clawed its way to a 4-4 record after an 0-3 start — and the answer they hope works is Josh Dobb, whom they acquired in a trade with Arizona.
Cousins had been playing some of the best football of his career while facing the prospect of free agency next summer after the Vikings didn't sign the 35-year-old quarterback to an extension. That left the door open for speculation that this would be Cousins' last ride in Minnesota, which was sent into overdrive after the season-ending injury.
"I think this immediate solution that we found provides us with a really quality player at a time where we were able to go out and get that player without potentially leaving the world of the future and the now – we were kind of able to accomplish the goal of both and help our football team," O'Connell continued.
That's an awfully wide door to leave open for those looking for answers about the future of the Vikings quarterback position. Cousins' lack of a determined future in Minnesota combined with a really deep QB class in the upcoming draft has everyone speculating what's next.
When asked if he would like Cousins back when he returns from his injury, O'Connell responded, "Yeah, 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," continued O'Connell. "And one of the biggest parts about kind of coping with this, and we must do that…but coping with the fact that I believe he was experiencing his best season in the National Football League and where we could have gone as a team – hopefully we’re going to still get to that place. But I know without Kirk Cousins and that high level of quarterback play we were getting from him week-in and week-out, it’s going to be a challenge. But like I said, one that we’ve got to accept and try to thrive."
