Voice of the Vikings Paul Allen questions if 'analytics add up' for keeping Cousins

Is this the year the Vikings get aggressive and trade up for a franchise quarterback?

Minnesota Vikings radio play-by-play announcer Paul Allen talked about the possibility on his KFXN-FM 100.3 radio show Thursday morning, asking former Vikings linebacker and current radio network sideline reporter Ben Leber if he thinks the Vikings could move up into the top five to get their QB of choice. 

"I don't think so. I don't think so, man," Leber answered.

"You could, but they're going to hold you over the fire and say 'OK well we want X, Y and Z.' And if it comes to existing player equity we don't really have it. So you can't really trade players, so you're trading future picks," Leber continued. 

"You might be one quarterback away from making a little run in the playoffs, but I don't think anybody believes that this roster, as is right now, is a Super Bowl-contending team. You have so many holes to fill, mostly on defense, that you probably have to think young and you've gotta fill those needs through the draft that I don't think that adding a C.J. Stroud type of guy fixes all of your ills with one pick."

But Allen questioned "how hard" the Vikings front office, led by general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, can "preach analytics" if they bring Cousins back after a serious injury. 

"I just can't imagine the analytics add up to a 36-year-old off an Achilles injury, at fat cash," Allen said. "I can't possibly imagine that the analytics, that are of now, add up to something like that."

Cousins told The Associated Press on Thursday that he expects to be ready to practice during summer organized team activities, which if true means he could be fully ready for training camp and the start of the 2024 regular season. 

Another variable that Allen mentioned is that bringing Cousins back next season gives the Vikings a good chance to win games, meaning their first-round pick in 2025 could be later in the first round, which in turn would put them further away from drafting a franchise quarterback. So is now the time to pounce?

The lingering Shanahan-Cousins connection

Another hypothetical scenario postulated by the Vikings announcer was the idea that Cousins signs with the 49ers. For that to happen, Allen figures it would take a disastrous performance by Brock Purdy on Saturday night against the Packers. 

"That's just another little aside when watching the 7:15 on Saturday," Allen said. "Of course I have no steam and do I think it would transpire? Probably not. If the Niners lose and Purdy is an absolute disaster, well, I mean, think about next-level [Kyle Shanahan] and a certain quarterback about to become a free agent. That's a road down which I would travel."

Leber agreed. 

Cousins was drafted by Washington in 2012 when Shanahan was the offensive coordinator, and the two have been crossed paths in rumor mills ever since Cousins became a free agent and signed with Minnesota in 2018. 

Realistically, would the 49ers give up on Purdy after his sensational season, even if he has a bad game in the playoffs? Purdy led the NFL in ESPN's QBR metric and finished with 4,280 passing yards with 31 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Not only that, but he's on a rookie contract that will pay him a base salary of $985,000 in 2024 and just $1.1 million in 2025. 

Purdy is good and cheap. Would Shanahan and the 49ers punt on him in favor of Cousins, who would undoubtedly cost 30-40 times more than Purdy and have questions about his ability to play after Achilles tendon surgery?

It's speculation season in the NFL and we're still nearly two months in front of free agency and three months before the draft. Buckle up, Vikings fans.