A major deal between the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers could be in the near future.
So far this season, things haven’t exactly gone according to plan for both the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers. Minnesota is sitting with a disappointing 1-4 record for the first time since 2013 and a roster decimated by injuries has resulted in the 49ers only having two wins in their first five games.
For these two teams that met in the divisional round of the playoffs last season, the road to getting back into the postseason this year is looking more and more difficult as each week passes by.
If the current seasons for the Vikings and 49ers continue to trend in the wrong direction, both franchises will likely look to make some big-time changes to their roster in an attempt to get back on track in 2021.
When teams struggle in the NFL, the quarterback is typically the guy who gets a good amount of the blame. While Kirk Cousins and Jimmy Garoppolo haven’t been terrible this year, they also haven’t done enough to keep their respective teams among the group of NFC contenders.
Now, it’s a little too late in the current season to make a major change under center. But if neither team makes the playoffs this year, both could be looking to make a quarterback change in 2021.
San Francisco has been linked to Cousins in the past and this is one of the multiple reasons why the current Minnesota signal-caller could be sent packing to the Bay Area during the upcoming offseason. What are some of the other reasons why Cousins might end up taking the field for the 49ers in 2021?
Shanahan’s admiration for Cousins
Kirk Cousins’ first season in the NFL was back in 2012 when he was a member of the Washington Football Team. Cousins didn’t play much that year, but he was able to develop a friendly relationship with Washington’s offensive coordinator at the time, Kyle Shanahan.
Shanahan and Cousins ended up working together for two seasons and their time spent with each other is something that both still look back on fondly.
Shanahan has been the head coach of the 49ers since 2017 and in 2018 it was revealed that his “master plan,” was to have Cousins eventually be his quarterback in San Francisco. However, the 49ers decided to make a trade for Jimmy Garoppolo midway through the 2017 season and Shanahan’s dreams of reuniting with Cousins had to be put on hold.
It’s very possible that San Francisco could finish the current season with a losing record for the third time in four years with Shanahan as the team’s head coach. His time to turn the franchise around could be running out very soon and a move like trading for Cousins could be something that he believes can quickly get the team going in the right direction.
Some might think a Shanahan wanting to acquire the Vikings quarterback is a laughable idea to try and get a team back on track. But the 49ers head coach has expressed his confidence in Cousins’ abilities in the past and perhaps he can be the one to bring out the best in the current Minnesota passer.
Garopollo experiment not working out
San Francisco is coming off a 2019 season that saw them win 13 games and make it all the way to the Super Bowl. Jimmy Garoppolo was the 49ers quarterback last year, but he was never really the guy people pointed to when discussing why the team was able to be so successful.
Most recently, San Francisco benched Garoppolo during their Week 5 loss to the Miami Dolphins. Franchise quarterbacks don’t typically get benched, do they?
Now, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan did make it seem like he pulled his starting quarterback because of an ankle injury that Garoppolo is still dealing with. But Shanahan probably wasn’t very happy with his starting signal-caller finishing the first half against the Dolphins with a 41.2 percent completion rate, 77 passing yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions either.
So while the San Francisco head coach was able to use the injury excuse this time, this also wasn’t Garoppolo’s first bad performance with the team. Just look at last season’s playoffs when the 49ers quarterback finished with a 75.9 rating in three games.
During his last nine times out on the field (including the postseason), Garoppolo has averaged just 181 passing yards while throwing for a total of eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. Those numbers are coming from a guy who has a cap hit of more than $26.5 million in 2021 and 2022.
After the current season, the 49ers can release or trade Garoppolo and it will free up $24.1 million in cap space. At this point, San Francisco sending him out the door in 2021 seems almost inevitable.
If the 49ers actually do end up parting ways with Garoppolo next year, some might think the team would be best to use an early-round selection on a quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft. But as we mentioned earlier, Shanahan is running out of time to turn San Francisco into a consistent contender and he’s not about to get an additional season or two to wait for a young passer to develop.
So looking for a veteran replacement is more likely what the 49ers would do if they get rid of Garoppolo and the guy over in Minnesota is someone who they could pursue.
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?