Kirk Cousins Rumors: ‘No Consensus’ Vikings QB Will Return in 2024 amid Contract Buzz

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Kirk Cousins’ future remains very much up in the air.

According to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert and Nick Wagoner, it is still unclear if Cousins will return to the Minnesota Vikings ahead of the 2024 season, with his free agency looming:

“Cousins has a full no-trade clause, and citing his ongoing desire to live in a distraction-free world, declined to say whether he would ever consider waiving it.”It would require a “perfect storm” of circumstances to lead to a trade, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Ironically, the likeliest scenario could be a season-ending injury to Purdy before the Oct. 31 deadline. But while a midseason trade remains highly unlikely, there is no consensus either inside or outside the Vikings organization on whether Cousins will return for 2024.”

Granted, the remainder of the 2023 season could end up making the decision for both Cousins and the Vikings. The team is currently just 2-4 and will be major underdogs on Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers, with a 2-5 record potentially on the horizon.

The team will also be without superstar Justin Jefferson, who will miss at least the next three games after being placed on injured reserve earlier in October. If the Vikings find themselves submerged in a losing streak and unlikely to make the playoffs, Jefferson might consider extending his absence, given his own lack of a long-term extension.

That could create the perfect storm for the Vikings to end up in the running for one of the top quarterbacks in the 2024 draft class, leaving them a natural transition from Cousins to a new franchise option at the position.

The more likely scenario is that the Vikings will tread water without Jefferson, get him back midseason and finish with a middle-of-the-pack record in the NFL, leaving them outside of the range of draft picks needed to secure a top quarterback prospect. That will create an interesting scenario for the team and essentially leave them at the mercy of Cousins’ decision in free agency.

As Seifert and Wagoner noted, Cousins’ “current contract will void after the NFL’s March 5, 2024 deadline for using the franchise tag. So even if the Vikings want to bring him back, they would not be able to stop him from signing elsewhere.”

Cousins, 35, continues to play at a solid level, with 1,679 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, four interceptions, 15 sacks taken and a 67.2 completion percentage this season. There are questions about whether he’s the sort of quarterback capable of leading a team to a title, but there’s little doubt he’s an above-average option at the position.

The Vikings could do worse than a few more years of Cousins at the position, in other words. There just isn’t much clarity on what his future holds at this point.