Vikings Training Camp QBs Preview: A Critical Season For Kirk Cousins' Future Awaits

Cousins is under contract through 2023, but a poor season will have the Vikings pondering change.

The Vikings' decision to extend Kirk Cousins' contract for an additional season this spring — making him a free agent in 2024, not 2023 — was a bit puzzling at first glance.

Through four seasons in Minnesota, Cousins has been a disappointment relative to the contract and expectations that came when he signed in 2018. His numbers have mostly been strong, but the Vikings added Cousins because they thought he'd help make them a consistent playoff team and a Super Bowl contender. That 2017 team was one game away from the Super Bowl with Case Keenum at quarterback, and the thought was that an upgrade at the game's most important position could get the Vikings over the hump.

Instead, Cousins has posted a 33-29-1 record as Minnesota's starter, making the playoffs once in four years. Win-loss record is not exclusively a quarterback statistic, and the Vikings' offensive line, defense, and coaching have all factored into the team's mediocrity since his arrival, but Cousins has failed to elevate the pieces around him at the level top-tier quarterbacks can.

Why, then, would the new regime of GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O'Connell commit to him for an additional year on top of this one? (And with a no-trade clause, too!). They had the option to hit the reset button this offseason by trading Cousins and other aging core players, and it would've been hard to blame them for choosing that route. Even letting Cousins play out the final year of his previous extension and evaluating his future next spring would've been an understandable approach.

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As it turns out, part of the reason O'Connell wanted the Vikings' job was because of the opportunity to work with Cousins again. Before being an offensive coordinator in Los Angeles and Washington, O'Connell was Cousins' position coach for one season in 2017. Along with Adofo-Mensah, he seems to truly believe that his offense can unlock more of Cousins' game and make the Vikings contenders right away in 2022.

From that perspective, one can understand the rationale behind the extension. The Vikings get this season — a season in which they are unquestionably in win-now mode and must at least make the playoffs to be considered successful — to see how Cousins does with a new environment around him. Virtually all of the pieces are in place: O'Connell and offensive coordinator Wes Phillips will run their version of the Sean McVay offense; Cousins and O'Connell have a great relationship; the Vikings still have elite talent at the skill positions; the offensive line and defense, at least on paper, should be better.

If Cousins thrives with those circumstances and leads the Vikings to a division title and/or a postseason run, another extension could be in the cards for next offseason. If he doesn't, Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell will presumably set their sights on finding a replacement in 2024, if not sooner.

Heading into 2022 training camp, Inside the Vikings will be previewing every position on Minnesota's roster. First up, of course: the quarterbacks.

Projected starter(s)

Kirk Cousins

• Age: 34 (in August) 
• 2022 cap hit: $31.42 million 
• 2021 stats: 4,221 yards, 33 TD, 7 INT, 66.3 cmp%, 103.1 rating

Everything that can be discussed about Cousins has already been discussed, so I'll try not to rehash too much here. This was the second consecutive offseason in which trade rumors and general speculation about Cousins' future ran wild — and the second consecutive offseason in which nothing ultimately came from those rumors.

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Because of his contract, career record, play style, and even personality, the Michigan State product is one of the most polarizing players in the NFL. 2021 was like most seasons for Cousins; depending on the stats you use, he can look elite (fourth in QB rating, fifth in PFF passing grade) or he can look average (15th in QBR, 14th in EPA + CPOE composite).

The reality is that the league views him as the latter. In ESPN's recent survey of execs, coaches, scouts, and players, Cousins essentially ranked 14th among quarterbacks, finishing behind the top ten and three honorable mentions as the lone member of the "also receiving votes" category. Having the 14th-best QB in the league — one who is capable of playing at a very high level for stretches of a season — isn't a bad thing. But when that player has the third-highest cap hit in the league in 2022 and has missed the playoffs two years in a row, it becomes an issue.

The key question here is whether or not O'Connell's presence can help Cousins thrive for a full season. By playing to Cousins' strengths — play-action, straightforward reads that utilize his accuracy, deep passing — the Vikings could conceivably have one of the NFL's best offenses this year. A lot of that depends on the offensive line taking a big step forward, but it would not be shocking.

"I know who he is as a player, and I know what he's capable of, and part of our job as coaches is maximizing a player's ability to go out every single Sunday and have success," O'Connell said in his introductory press conference. "I feel that's going to be an advantage for us as we build our system offensively, make sure we really focus on the things Kirk does well, which I do think are a lot of aspects of playing the position. Help him on a daily basis connect with his team, lead us, be a completely quiet-minded quarterback that can go play, because he's talented enough to go do that, putting him in the best possible situations to have success."

O'Connell expanded on that thought in an interview with SKOR North's Purple Daily podcast this week.

"I think we can put together a system where we continuously try to give him answers," he said. "Make his job as simple as possible from a standpoint of, 'let's not call a bunch of plays that require him to decipher different coverages to know where he starts his progression.' Let's call plays that have answers versus everything built in to pure progressions. Let's give him protection...so we can limit the damage, limit the impact of him being hit throughout a football game. Maybe it's using the different variations of marrying the run and the pass on early downs with your screens, with your play-action pass, with your movement game."

O'Connell compared that strategy to finding open "catch and shoot" looks for shooters in the NBA, as opposed to those players having to create contested shots off the dribble.

It'll be fascinating to see how well that approach works for Cousins this season. It's been an offseason of adjustment for him, using flash cards to memorize the plays and terminology in this new offense. Going up against the Vikings' new Ed Donatell-led defense in spring practices was a great learning experience for him, and that'll continue to be the case during training camp.

Again, this is a critical season for Cousins' future. He remains the starting quarterback in Minnesota for now, but the long-term leash isn't particularly long. Maybe the Vikings win a Super Bowl with Cousins at the helm, or maybe they end up searching for a younger, more dynamic player to take over before too long.

Projected backup(s)

Kellen Mond

• Age: 23
• 2022 cap hit: $1.19 million
• 2021 stats: 2/3, 5 yards

The only training camp position battle at quarterback features Mond going against veteran Sean Mannion for the backup job.

Mond had a rough rookie season that culminated in Mannion getting the nod against the Packers in Week 17 when Cousins was unavailable. After that game, Mike Zimmer infamously bashed the rookie third-round pick when asked if he wanted to get a look at him in the following week's meaningless regular season finale.

2022 is a new year and a clean slate for Mond. He's excited about this opportunity with a new coaching staff. He's worked closely throughout the spring with a fellow former Texas A&M quarterback, Vikings assistant QB coach Jerrod Johnson, and has drawn praise from O'Connell and Phillips for his control of the offense in practice.

Mond's physical tools make him an intriguing young player. Now he needs to go out and make the throws during training camp practices and preseason games to beat out Mannion.

Roster bubble/longshots

Sean Mannion

• Age: 30
• 2022 cap hit: $1.04 million
• 2021 stats: 22/36, 189 yards, 1 TD

Nate Stanley

• Age: 25 (in August)
• 2022 cap hit: $705,000
• 2021 stats: N/A

The Vikings brought Mannion back for another season as a fallback option if Mond isn't ready. He's a low-floor, low-ceiling veteran who brings a lot to the table in helping Cousins prepare each week.

Stanley, a 2020 seventh-round pick, seems unlikely to be kept on the practice squad for a third year.

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