Why Cousins' contract hurts the team.

Well first and foremost I hope he comes back as well as any other members who leave. However I do not feel bad because I said what I said. I was also respectful and didn't bash anybody for not agreeing. Of course I love this team despite how much they piss me off but there's nothing wrong with a conversation on something the Vikings are doing or have done that you don't agree with. I enjoy good debates and different opinions. And like Raptorman said, I've been on boards that everyone had to have the same opinion, and not allowed to say anything negative towards the team. Correction, you can only be positive towards the players that everyone else think is good. Because I caught so much flack from another board because of my support of Christian Ponder. And I got heat for saying that Johnny Manziel wasn't going to last long in the NFL. I was wrong about Ponder but right about Manziel. Either way I was accused of trolling during the time and eventually got banned. That's why I like this board because all opinions are welcomed positive or negative as long as it's within the board rules.

Are you kidding? Zimmer and Spielman would have been fired THIS YEAR had they missed the playoffs by not getting a sure upgrade over Case. We'd be talking about tanking to get a QB next season instead of reloading for a possible SB run. Cousins may not have been the right choice, and I suspect that we were the team offering more for Brees, but Cousins was the only real option on that market. 

The Wilfs are in love with Spielman and Zimmer. So is the locker room. 

Had they decided to stick with Keenum, I don't see how missing the playoffs with him is any worse than missing the playoffs with the prized "missing piece." 

Again, we have no idea what Keenum could have done in 2018, but what big games did we win that Cousins was one of the main reasons? Go ahead ... I'll wait. 

Care to share some links to this well-documented info?

I know I've read things about Cousins being a bit "odd" and maybe more about "himself" and "his own brand" than the team as a whole. I know a lot of fans, media, and former teammates seem to have issues with him, but I guess it's not something I looked into a ton.

From what I can tell, he seems like a good person, teammate, leader, etc. I think the passion is there, the professionalism, ... all of that. How does that compare to guys like Bridgewater, Bradford, Keenum, etc. - I don't know, but I can't honestly criticize the man for this, because I just haven't seen it. And, no, I don't love the contract, BUT, he did take less to play for the Vikings, so that says something, right? 

The Redskins owner is the worst in the
NFL he is basically the idiot they try and
lock away at Christmas and holidays (draft and free agency) watch the worst free agents ever show top ten .. half of them are the Redskins moves...it's like he eating
his his own vomit at a seven course meal.
This Robert Kraft and him get their own
table.

This 'Cap hell' isn't so bad - they've been able to keep virtually every in-house free agent that they wanted back. You want to see cap hell? Say hi to the Timberwolves for me.


You're not wrong... he seems to have two modes of QB play - gunslinger turnover machine style (we saw that from Week 1 to about the 2nd Packers game), and the conversative check-down style (the Patriots game through the rest of the season). He seems better when he's allowed to be himself (see Weeks 1-5) rather than be forced to play safe and stop turning the ball over (week 13-17).


He absolutely could have done worse than Cousins. He was far worse in Denver, so much so that a year after he fetched $18M a year on the open market, he's now slotted in as a backup QB. Maybe he doesn't play as poorly here as he did in Denver, but do you think he'd replicate his 2017 numbers with the O-line being much worse than its 2017 iteration and having the incompetent DeFilippo have him throw the ball 50 times a game? We went 8-7-1 with Cousins, and we could have been worse. It's within the realm of possibility we'd have a losing record with Keenum at QB.




Keenum doesn't count as a free agent QB success?

Again, I don't completely disagree with you, but it seems that the opinion that "the Cousins signing was wrong, keeping Keenum was better" is now the path some think Spielman should have followed. There wasn't an answer in the 2018 QB free agent class, in my humble opinion. Not Alex Smith, Cousins, Keenum, Bridgewater... or Blake Bortles!

I'm not sure I see better alternatives for what Spielman did after Teddy's gruesome knee injury. Getting 2 years of Bradford seemed like the only option, unless you were happy with a full year of Shaun Hill and a brand spanking new QB in 2017. The Keenum signing was a stroke of brilliance that saved the QB position in 2017. And the Cousins move, while it's turned out poorly... didn't have a clear alternative. Great, maybe you bring back Keenum and sign one of the O-lineman in free agency that immediately got injured or declined. Or maybe you trade Trae Waynes and a draft pick for Alex Smith and pay him an egregious amount of money and hope his leg doesn't break like it did in Washington.