Why a Kirk Cousins trade to the 49ers could happen sooner than later

Minnesota possibly looking for a reset under center

This past offseason, the Vikings decided to give Kirk Cousins a two-year extension. The move wasn’t too big of a surprise, but it still came with a negative reaction from some segments of Minnesota’s fan base.

Cousins might have played well enough during his first two seasons with the Vikings to earn an extension, but his performance so far this year has not been worthy of the $40 million he’s making this season.

With Minnesota only having one win after their first five games this year, the team is currently closer to getting a top-five draft pick than a spot in the playoffs. If the Vikings continue to perform poorly this season, then it’s very possible that they could look to move on from Cousins and select a quarterback with an early-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

In order to free up any cap space by parting ways with Cousins in 2021, Minnesota would have to trade him. Releasing the quarterback next year would just result in a loss of cap space for the Vikings.

With the way Cousins is performing this season and how expensive the rest of his contract is in 2021 and 2022, Minnesota probably isn’t going to hear from many teams around the NFL who are interested in trading for the quarterback next year.

However, the 49ers are one of the few that could show interest, especially if they move on from Jimmy Garoppolo. If the Vikings put Cousins on the trade block during the 2021 offseason, will Kyle Shanahan be able to resist the urge of bringing him to San Francisco?