Post by Uncle on Jan 4, 2022 16:34:43 GMT -6
I agree there were other options. I most likely would have signed Keenum to a contract and drafted but it wasn’t my choice. Still- the team supposedly was ready to win it all and that’s the choice that was made. I was ready to dump Zimmer that year as I believed his team had peaked and that it was unlikely he would ever win a SB if he couldn’t do it with what he had then. So yeah- dumping Zimmer and not signing Kirk is proving to have been the right choice. But that’s not what happened.
Like it or not we are stuck with the contract we gave him and it costs us more to dump it trade and take the hit than we will gain by doing it. So keep him one more year, take the cap hit and figure something else out
Pros of trading Cousins in 2022 (again, working under the guise of a new GM/HC regime using 2022 as retooling for 2023+):
- Vikings theoretically receive more draft resources back; from early speculative trade scenarios by PFF and ESPN's Bill Barnwell, the Vikings could receive at least a 1st Rd pick in the 2022 Draft for trading Cousins in the 2022 offseason (PFF's scenario had the Vikings receiving a 1st in 2022 and I think a 2nd or 3rd in 2023). If Cousins was to play it out in 2022 and sign elsewhere as an UFA in the 2023 offseason, the Vikings would receive, at best, a 3rd Rd comp pick in the 2024 Draft. The new GM/HC regime would be able to use better resources this year to restock the roster vs waiting until 2024 to receive any draft compensation back. Also keep in mind that if the Vikings have a big UFA signing of their own in the 2023 offseason, that may negate Cousins leaving and we wouldn't receive any compensatory draft picks back.
- Clears cap space to use for other roster spots; trading Cousins in the 2022 offseason would immediately clear $35m in cap space for the Vikings and would allow them to go after a few top-level free agents during the start of the 2022 League Year. The goal would theoretically be to "shore-up" a position or two via FA vs using all that space on Cousins. For example, let's say there's a real good interior OL player that hits the free agent market that the new GM/HC combo are certainly familiar with (ie, Bears IOL player James Daniels), the Vikings would probably not have a shot at him if we keep Cousins and his $45m on the books in 2022. If we trade him, it opens up the possibility of plugging other holes in the roster. Imagine shoring up the OL in 2022 by adding a solid OC or RG: even if you have a "lesser" QB under center, at least they won't be playing behind an interior OL that is among the league's worst.
- Clears up 2 roster spots and allows QB competition; if you think about it, Kirk Cousins has occupied 2 roster spots since 2019 because Sean Mannion occupies one with the sole purpose of helping Cousins in the QB room prepare. Mannion has also effectively walled-off the QB2 job to anyone else who may potentially be better "on the field" in game situations (regardless of whether Mannion is better in the QB room or on the practice field). By trading Cousins, you open up not only the QB1 roster spot, but also the QB2 roster spot, too, which creates a healthy QB competition for the new GM/HC combo to evaluate. While it's not certain that a new GM/HC combo would view the "need" for Mannion to occupy the QB2 spot in 2022 the same way Zimmer and Co. do, you know Kirk would certainly lobby for Mannion to come back.
Cons of trading Cousins in 2022
- Team may very well take a step "back" in 2022 in terms of W's/L's; it's not like Cousins has helped carry this team to a bunch of W's during his tenure in Minnesota anyway, but it's certainly reasonable to expect whomever occupies the QB1 spot in 2022 (Mond, 2022 rookie, "bridge QB") probably won't put up the same #'s that Cousins would and the team may not score enough pts which could bring in the possibility of only a 5-6 win season. Honestly, this is negated by the fact that there is a new GM/HC combo in 2022 who will be using 2022 as a retooling/rebuilding year anyway, so not making the playoffs and taking a small step back in terms of W's/L's may not be seen as a con in the end, especially if the new GM nails the draft/offseason and the new HC has the team playing well, even in defeat (sort of like how we felt in 2014 under Zimmer's 1st year).
... and neither is this Chris guy.