Kirk Cousins is a free agent after spending the last six seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, and Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell does not exactly sound like someone who is convinced his quarterback will return to the team next season.
O’Connell is in Indianapolis, Ind. for the NFL Combine. He joined NFL Network for an interview on Saturday and was asked a question about Cousins. O’Connell was pretty adamant that Cousins will be meeting with other teams in free agency.
“I’ve been having kind of the dialogue that you have with a player like Kirk Cousins, the relationship we’ve built up over a long period of time. I know Kirk, where he’s at in this whole process. He’s earned the right to be a free agent. He’s played really good football. I know Kirk’s gonna go through a full process. He’s a process guy. And hopefully we continue to be a strong part in that process and we figure out a way to keep him a Minnesota Viking,” O’Connell said. “But my expectation is we’re not going to be the only ones that would like Kirk Cousins to be the quarterback of our team in 2024.”
O’Connell made it very clear that he expects the Vikings to have competition for Cousins. He even insinuated that other teams may have been tampering with Cousins already.
The 35-year-old Cousins is coming off a torn Achilles’ tendon that limited him to just 8 games last season. He’s had three seasons of at least 30 touchdown passes with Minnesota and led the team to two playoff appearances.
You can hear O’Connell’s comments and judge for yourself.
"I know Kirk is going to go through a full process. He's a process guy. And hopefully we continue to be a strong part in that process and we figure out a way to keep him a Minnesota Viking." – Head Coach Kevin O'Connell on @KirkCousins8
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— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) March 2, 2024
