Since Aaron Rodgers blew out his left Achilles tendon moments into the Jets’ season opener three weeks ago, there’s been much hand-wringing, analysis and rumor about whom they should acquire as a veteran replacement to the former Packers legend.
With 2021 No. 2-overall pick Zach Wilson not showing the advancement the team had hoped and the offense struggling to score points, there’s been a demand among fans to find a veteran quarterback who could be plugged right in to help this win-now team win.
Kirk Cousins was one of the most prominent names out there, though as a member of the Vikings, he’d need to be acquired via trade.
The thought of the Jets going after Cousins (which it isn’t believed they were), immediately turned me off based on two things:
Cousins used the Jets as leverage to up the Minnesota offer in 2018 when the Jets were interested in signing him, then he bragged about it on a video he posted about his free-agency process. Cousins is shown talking about getting the big offer from the Jets and whether his agent, Mike McCartney, could get the Vikings to raise their offer from $25 million to $28 million annually.
“So, now you have what we wanted,’’ Cousins tells his wife, Julie, in the video. “Mike, he’s just got to do the same thing with the Vikings because he’s got to get them from 25 to a number that is competitive with the Jets’ offer. But the fact that we have the Jets’ offer is huge because now it gives the other teams a reason to come up.”
Woody and Chris Johnson simply could not bring this guy onto their team after that show of disrespect.
The other thing is this: Cousins isn’t a winner. Sure, he compiles gaudy stats and has won football games, but ask the Vikings fans how happy they are with where Cousins has taken the team, winning only one playoff game since he was given some $84 million guaranteed contract. There’s something missing with Cousins, something that’s difficult to put a finger on.
And now, with the Vikings 0-3 entering Sunday’s game at Carolina, there are reports swirling about the Vikings doing a tear-down — one that includes rumors of their best player, receiver Justin Jefferson, and Cousins playing on a one-year extension for $35 million this year.
Cousins and the Vikings were paper tigers last season, winning an inordinate number of close games, and were overrated — which is why they were bounced from the playoffs in one game, against the Giants at home.
Jefferson this past week told reporters he doesn’t believe this Minnesota team is done.
“I’m tired of people saying that we’re looking into next season, or all of the trades and stuff like that,” Jefferson said. “We’re focused still on this season. We have a lot more games to go and we have a lot more things to accomplish this season. We’re still focused in, and we still have the same goal as we had before the season. We just need to fix a few things, and I feel like we’ll be back on track.”
The Vikings lead the NFL in turnovers with nine, have just two takeaways and are minus-7 in turnover differential. Unlike last season, they had the ball late in both of their home games with chances to win and failed to do so. They were 11-0 in one-score games last season and are 0-3 this year.
Is that all Cousins’ fault? Of course not. But I read somewhere recently that Cousins is “the best unremarkable quarterback in the NFL,’’ and that was so perfectly stated.
