The Minnesota Vikings have a few major questions to answer this offseason when it comes to their roster. Several hard decisions are going to have to be made as they will decide whether to continue down the path of retooling and becoming a younger roster or run it back with veterans and make another go of it.
The biggest decision that will be made will come at quarterback. Kirk Cousins was playing at a high level this season before he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in Week 8 against the Green Bay Packers.
He was leading the league with 291.4 yards per game when he went down, throwing 18 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Cousins was completing 69.5 percent of his passes as he was doing everything he could to help keep the team afloat after a rough start.
It would certainly be a risk moving on from Cousins, but the Vikings would be able to upgrade other parts of their roster by not re-signing him. However, finding a quarterback capable of producing at the level that Cousins has would be tough.
Certainly, no one is envious of the Vikings’ front office having to make such a tough decision. NFL analyst Peter King also revealed something that makes this an even tougher negotiation for the team, as Cousins isn’t going to give any sort of discount, whether it is the length of the contract or how much money he signs for.
“There’s two great quarterback mysteries in this offseason in the NFL,” NBC Sports’ Peter King said on “The Cook & Joe Show” on January 23. “One is Kirk Cousins. Because he will not go back to Minnesota on a one-year contract."
“A lot of people are going to say, ‘Wow, he’s going to be 36 [years old] next year, coming off a torn Achilles. Do we want to commit to him for two years,’” King said. “I would if I were a team. But we’re also talking two years, $90 million, which is excessive. But it’s also the market. So I’m not saying it’s a bad deal or a bad idea.”
There likely isn’t a team in the NFL that has as much information and knowledge about the rehab Cousins has been doing on his Achilles. That should give the Vikings a leg up when it comes to retaining him, should they want to, as they will know how things have gone every step of the way.
Committing long-ish term to a quarterback who is going to be 36 coming off a devastating injury is a hard sell. But, that could be the least costly route for the Vikings to take. Moving up in the draft would cost a fortune and the options are limited when it comes to established, veteran quarterbacks in free agency.
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