The Vikings are launching a new era with a fresh leadership duo focused on a collaborative process.
First up on the to-do list is working together to establish a path forward under center.
Kirk Cousins is under contract through 2022, carrying with him a cap number of $45 million. If he were to be traded after June 1, Minnesota would clear $35 million in space, but would be left without a clear replacement at quarterback.
Rumblings of a potential split persist, but new coach Kevin O'Connell moved in the opposite direction when asked about Cousins' status with the organization.
"Well, I know he's under contract and I'm excited to coach him," O'Connell said. "We've already started thinking about how we're going to build those systems for him and our other quarterbacks, and really the tremendous skill group we have, our guys up front. It takes all 11 to move the football on offense, to run it, to throw it, to score points in the red zone. But, I'm anticipating Kirk being a part of what we do."
New general manger Kwesi Odofo-Mensah moved in lockstep with O'Connell on the matter Thursday.
"Just to reiterate, I'm excited that he's excited to coach him and lead him and we're focused on building the team around him to set us up to succeed the best we can," Odofo-Mensah said.
So that settles it: Cousins is in Minnesota's immediate plans. The quarterback's contract is set to expire after 2022, though, meaning this season could be setting up to be an expensive prove-it year for the 33-year-old quarterback.
O'Connell didn't throw down such a gauntlet when asked further about Cousins, instead pointing to what O'Connell's former team -- the Los Angeles Rams -- just did in its first season with Matthew Stafford as an example of the Vikings' potential with Cousins leading the way.
"They have a lot of similarities when it comes to the physical nature of throwing the football," O'Connell said of Stafford and Cousins. "I think those guys are elite throwers. Accuracy is the No. 1 requirement in this league as a quarterback, from a physical standpoint. We can talk a lot about makeup and obviously the ability to process at the line of scrimmage and play fast, but if you can't be accurate with the football, it becomes very different to consistently move the ball for an offense.
"I think Kirk, the one thing I've always noticed about him is he's incredibly accurate with the football, he plays with great rhythm and timing and precision, and I think we can build an offensive system like we had in L.A. to take advantage of that skillset.
"Matthew Stafford's one of the most talented players I've ever been around, I have so much respect for him, obviously from a physical standpoint, but also that makeup and that ability to process, do a lot of things at the line of scrimmage. And I see Kirk being able to do a lot of those things, and I see us being able to build an offense to maximize what he does best."
Cousins has performed well above average in his time in Minnesota, finishing with a passer rating of 99.7 or better in each of his four seasons with the Vikings. He posted a 103.1 rating in 2021, compiling a 33-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio, and has thrown double-digit picks just twice in his four seasons with the Vikings.
This is seen as a strength, according to O'Connell, who would also have good reason to be confident in Cousins' ability, having spent a season as Cousins' quarterbacks coach in Washington in 2017.
Minnesota was not bashful about relying on the run in the Mike Zimmer era, but it's fair to expect the Vikings to throw the ball more with O'Connell in charge. The former Rams offensive coordinator said he will model his offense after what the Rams did in Los Angeles and will call plays, leaving the team's fortunes in his hands as he takes his first steps as a head coach in the NFL.
He'll get to work building the offense, which also includes playmakers like running back Dalvin Cook and receivers Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen around Cousins, as O'Connell said Thursday. It will be up to Cousins to prove he can handle the responsibility of executing O'Connell's offense in 2022.
If he succeeds, we can expect the rumors of a departure to disappear and an extension to follow. If not, we'll end up circling back to this topic a year from now.
O'Connell will begin to work on preventing the latter outcome, while having a new Super Bowl ring to admire from the recent past that led him to this opportunity.
