Kirk Cousins, the quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, has a lot of options for his summer activities. Could the Vikings make a trade to acquire his replacement?
During this offseason, Cousins is a free agent. The return of Cousins has garnered curiosity from both parties. But they haven’t yet consented to a fresh agreement. And there are others within the league who think his exit is a genuine possibility.
The Athletic’s Mike Sando reported on a conversation amongst a few unidentified executives in which it was suggested that Cousins take Tua Tagovailoa’s place on the Miami Dolphins.
According to Sando on January 15, an executive stated, “If you… sign Kirk, I’d want to make sure I felt comfortable about having him for three years from a health standpoint.” “In a dome stadium, where you know half of your games are played in perfect conditions, I do believe Tua performs much better.”
That is an argument for Tagovailoa in Minnesota and for the Vikings to think twice before committing to Cousins on the kind of big-money, fully guaranteed contract he could command.
“If Cousins left, the Vikings would be without a quarterback,” Sando wrote.
Cousins recently finished a $35 million, one-year contract. However, he will still be signed by the Vikings for $28.5 million in the upcoming season. In the last year of his $30.3 million rookie-scale contract, Tagovailoa has a $23.2 million cap hit on his fifth-year option for the next season. According to Spotrac, the Vikings’ initial cap space is $39.6 million.
How great of an improvement Tagovailoa would be is still unknown. This previous season was his first full schedule of games since joining the league, in terms of health. During that time, injuries—more especially, concussions—have received a lot of attention.
Before rupturing his Achilles this season, Cousins had missed just two games in his Vikings career. This cost him the remaining eight games.
The Vikings, who had won four of his previous five matches, were likewise on the rise.
The Dolphins under Tagovailoa lost four of their final six games in the regular season and three games in a row. The third-year quarterback’s cold-weather problems were indeed a factor, as seen by the fact that he completed 51.2% of his throws in the Wild Card Weekend defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Another executive stated, “Our resources are better spent on Cousins plus draft picks than… just Tua.”
