Kevin O'Connell Leaves Door Open For Kirk Cousins Return in 2024

Could Cousins be back in Minnesota next season on an affordable contract?

Is it possible Kirk Cousins' Achilles injury actually makes it more likely that he returns to Minnesota in 2024?

Cousins' contract is up after this season. This injury figures to impact his free agent market, as he'll be 36 years old when next season starts and coming off the first major surgery of his professional career. It doesn't seem too far-fetched to think that he could return to the Vikings next year on a short-term, slightly team-friendly deal to continue what he and Kevin O'Connell and this franchise were building this season.

It has seemed for a while like the Vikings will look for their quarterback of the future early in next year's draft. But now that they're 4-4, what if they end up picking in the 20s again? There's a scenario where Jaren Hall or Nick Mullens or newly-acquired Josh Dobbs leads the Vikings to the seventh seed in the NFC but doesn't play well enough to look like a strong option for 2024 and beyond.

In that scenario, it might be difficult for the Vikings to trade up high enough to land Caleb Williams or Drake Maye in April. Then it would be a question of whether or not they like any of the other potential first-round QBs — guys like J.J. McCarthy, Quinn Ewers, Michael Penix Jr., Shedeur Sanders, Bo Nix. If the answer is no, bringing back Cousins could make sense for both parties.

It wouldn't be a long-term fix, but Cousins was playing at an extremely high level this season, particularly in recent wins over the 49ers and Packers. He was operating O'Connell's offense with surgical precision, even without Justin Jefferson. If the Vikings could get him back on, say, a two-year deal worth $30 million a season, that might be worth it. Of course, GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah would have to decide if that fits into the team's plans along with looming market-setting extensions for Jefferson and Christian Darrisaw.

From Cousins' perspective, would he be willing to take a little less money to remain in a situation he loves in Minnesota, both on and off the field? He's always said he hopes to finish his career with the Vikings. At the same time, his camp has always secured as much money as possible in contract negotiations — as any player should do — and there could be another team that would offer him more than the Vikings would even after the injury. That would be a decision he'd have to make.

If there's one thing that's very clear, it's that O'Connell loves Cousins and the way he was playing this season. In speaking about Cousins on Tuesday, the Vikings' coach seemingly left the door open for him to return next year.

"Kirk Cousins is going to be healthy again," O'Connell said. "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. ... 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."

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