'Mark that down': Florio says 49ers, Rams will have 'tug of war' for Kirk Cousins
Kirk Cousins is in the final year of his contract with the Minnesota Vikings and there might be a couple of his former offensive coaches waiting to fight for his services in 2024. In fact, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio said "Mark it down" when dissecting potential suitors for Cousins come next March.
"Let's play it out to March of next year. I think you're going to see – unless the Vikings re-sign him by then and they can't use the franchise tag on him the way his contract is structured – you're going to see a potential tug of war between Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay for Kirk Cousins next March. Mark that down," Florio said Sunday on The Rich Eisen Show.
Cousins to the 49ers makes sense on a couple of levels. For starters, the connection between Cousins and Shanahan that dates back to their days together in Washington. It also makes sense because Cousins never gets injured and the 49ers have had major issues with injuries at the quarterback position.
Brock Purdy, if health, is the presumed starter in San Francisco this season. If he's not healthy, Florio believes Sam Darnold has the edge over Trey Lance. Whomever starts for the 49ers, it'll be up to them to prove they deserve another shot in 2024. If they don't, that could be the opening for a Cousins-Shanahan reunion.
Matthew Stafford is the presumed starting quarterback for the Rams in 2023 but beyond that is a mystery even though he's signed through 2026 and his $31 million in 2024 is already fully guaranteed. Trading or cutting him won't be easy because his dead cap hits are absurdly huge so the best case scenario for the Rams in moving on would be Stafford retiring.
Meanwhile, Cousins is on record saying he'll wait until March to talk contract extension with Minnesota: "I think we'll probably talk about the contract next March. Until then, just focus on this season and the job to do right now."
Another scenario worth tracking is a in-season trade involving Cousins. What if the Vikings are faltering ahead of the November trade deadline and a contender's starting quarterback goes down with a season-ending injury. Would the Vikings consider punting on the season and getting draft capital for Cousins?
One way or another, the Cousins drama never slows down and it could very well pick up speed over the next nine months.
