Extend Cousins or ... ?

It’s just the same conversations every year lol. It doesn’t matter how many times it’s proven not to work or how many seasons in a row we go without a playoff win etc.

At the end of the day Kirk joined a team that was coming off a nfc championship run as the supposed piece to lift them to legit contender status. He had elite weapons and a top 10 defense for two years and the team never made it back to that level (the one playoff win he had was followed by a horrible game from him the following week against the 49ers). We have one playoff win in the 5 seasons he’s been here and his cap hits (and moves to make them fit) keep putting us further behind.

At this point it’s obvious it just didn’t work out to everyone but maybe the wilfs and the chunk of fans they are catering to that will always believe so long as we have mediocre talent. It’s been time to move on from him for years despite the same circular conversations. Maybe this will finally be the off-season we just let him expire (or even try to trade for value although that seems less likely now than before).

Oh...and we've haven't "had one" since Francis Asbury Tarkenton. We only have another 40 years until we "have one". Sigh...

Yeah if only you could skip the playoffs and go directly to a Super Bowl. Stupid NFL, no wonder the Vikings can't win one.

Never mind this year, do you not see the pattern? Yeah lets keep extending that guy so we can keep sitting here year after year making excuses for why he's a loser.

Yeah because exceptions destroy the rule. If it happens 50 Super Bowls in a row now, maybe you'll have a point. Oh, and it took Pat Mahomes to be the exception. I guess that means a guy like Kirk can do it now too.

Answer us this, Mr. Defense guy ... why are you so in favor of paying a mediocre QB $40m/y when you believe defenses win championships? Why not get one of those $10m QB's and sink more money into a Super Bowl caliber defense? Defense is your thing, but you're always defending a QB who is preventing us from building a top 10 defense. It's rather illogical.

Yeah that's why we're paying 1/53rd of the team 1/8th of the money. It's such a team game that Kirk commands $40m/y and we continue to pay it. That makes sense. Do these 32 teams know it's a "team game"? Because they sure don't divvy up salary cap like it's a team game.

Hmmm sounds like 2021. When the 13-3 Packers defense gave up 2.12 points per drive, and the 12-4 Chiefs gave up 2.14, while the Vikings only gave up 2.11. How ever did they give up 55 and 62 points fewer points than the Vikings defense? Oh right, because their defenses were on the field 22 and 25 fewer drives all year, because their offenses were on the field 40 and 34 seconds longer per drive than the Vikings offense. If only there were a way for your $40m QB to help out your terrible defense, like by keeping them off the field or something ... instead of leading the league in 3-n-outs 2 years in a row.

Wasn't Brady the guy who kept taking under market contracts to help the team surround him with better talent? And unlike Kirk, Brady was pretty good at keeping his defense off the field by keeping the chains moving, without a ton of offensive weapons. Weird. But there you are again, talking about the importance of defense while defending a QB who gets paid more than the value he provides the team. If only we had a Super Bowl caliber defense that Kirk could ride to a Lomardi. Why are we paying Kirk "good enough to elevate the team" kind of money, when he's the one who needs to be elevated?

Besides, if Kirks goal is to make generational wealth for his family, he's doing it all wrong. Despite taking less money, Brady was even smarter than Kirk in that regard, because championships = money. Brady is making generational wealth off the field, in endorsements, and maybe a broadcast career, because corporations are willing to pony up "f*ck you money" when it comes to champions ... and long after they retire. Not even Pizza Ranch is going to keep paying Kirk after his career is over. Ain't nobody hitching their wagon to mediocrity. According to Forbes, Brady made $52m in endorsements last year, while Cousins made $2.5m.

Hope floats.
I won't quote Reignman because his post are long enough so to save space here I'll just agree with his assessment.
Kirk is always just good enough to promise more. Don't extend with the idea of he's the franchise. He's not that great all time veteran you just can't bare the thought of retiring. I don't want that aging Kirk who finally starts losing his ability when he's had this long career already trying to establish WTF that ability really is.
2023 fine...2024 I hope we really move forward. Unless someone offers something in trade that offsets the gravitational pull. Make 5-12 worth it.

Rught because in big games winning is on the QB alone. Just like Mahomes won the SB alone with no help from the defense. Got it.

When it's the QB constantly making mistakes at crucial times (e.g. 2yd throw on 4th-and-8), then you can either see reality, or continually give him a pass thinking that next year's gonna be his year. Totally your call.