Report expands on why Vikings chose Sam Howell over reunion with Falcons' Kirk Cousins during draft

Before the 2025 NFL Draft got underway, some suggested that the Minnesota Vikings could eventually embrace a reunion with current Atlanta Falcons backup quarterback Kirk Cousins. 

However, Minnesota seemed to say plenty about its potential interest in Cousins when the club sent 2025 draft pick No. 142 to the Seattle Seahawks for Sam Howell and the 172nd overall selection. Howell presumably could compete for the Vikings' QB2 job as 2024 first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy prepares to be the team's Week 1 starter. 

On Monday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated addressed why the Vikings essentially chose Howell over Cousins during the 2025 player-selection process.

"The Minnesota Vikings were only going to consider a reunion at this point if the Falcons ate a big chunk of [Cousins'] salary — and, absent that, Minnesota traded for a much cheaper alternative in Sam Howell on the draft’s third day," Breer wrote.

Specifically, Breer noted that Cousins is owed a guaranteed $27.5M in base salary for the 2025 season. 

Cousins played well under Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell from September 2022 up until the 36-year-old went down with a torn Achilles in October 2023. Minnesota then didn't re-sign Cousins before he reached free agency in March 2024, and he ultimately inked a four-year, $180M contract that included $100M guaranteed and a full no-trade clause to join the Falcons. 

Cousins' relationship with the Falcons changed after the club made signal-caller Michael Penix Jr. the eighth pick of the 2024 draft. Penix replaced Cousins in the Atlanta starting lineup this past December, and the 24-year-old began springtime workouts as the Falcons' QB1.

OutKick's Armando Salguero mentioned that Atlanta wants to find "a team willing to foot some of the guaranteed monies owed Cousins – which is damage the Falcons want to mitigate in the trade." However, Breer wrote that there is now no "logical destination" for Cousins following the draft. 

O'Connell wants to turn to McCarthy after the 22-year-old spent his rookie season recovering from a full meniscus repair. The Pittsburgh Steelers have spent this offseason acting as if they will sign 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers at some point. The Cleveland Browns are on track to have four active quarterbacks, including rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, on the roster when they open training-camp practices. The New Orleans Saints may start rookie Tyler Shough if Derek Carr is sidelined this fall with a shoulder injury. 

"It seems like the two possible exit doors for Cousins open if the Steelers don’t land Rodgers or another quarterback gets hurt somewhere," Breer added. "But even if there’s an injury, it’d have to happen before the trade deadline. And there’s a chance that Cousins wouldn’t want to uproot his family — and could thus block a trade if he doesn’t like the destination."

It's unclear if the Steelers have a deadline in mind for when they could pivot from Rodgers to Cousins. For what it's worth, some noteworthy members of the football community are convinced Rodgers would have already signed with Pittsburgh if he wanted to play for the AFC North side later this year.