What 49ers insiders are saying about Kirk Cousins trade speculation
By Adam Patrick
Monday began with a firestorm of trade speculation about the San Francisco 49ers possibly having an interest in making a deal with the Minnesota Vikings to acquire quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Thanks to a tweet from NFL Analysis Network’s Evan Massey, the fan bases for both the Vikings and 49ers were going back and forth about the likelihood of a potential trade involving Cousins.
There has always been speculation about San Francisco’s interest in the Minnesota quarterback due to the relationship between Cousins and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. But the possibility of something actually happening seemed to heat up on Monday. Or did it?
Will the San Francisco 49ers attempt to acquire the Minnesota Vikings quarterback?
As much as it might seem to some like the chances of Cousins landing in San Francisco this offseason are now increasing, numerous people with inside access to both teams expressed their doubts about a possible deal.
KSTP’s Darren Wolfson says he still sees Cousins remaining with the Vikings in 2021 due to how much the team’s success next season will determine the futures of head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman.
The Athletic Bay Area’s Tim Kawakami tweeted on Monday that he hasn’t “heard that the Vikings will let [Cousins] go and it would have to come to that for [a trade to the 49ers].”
The Sacramento Bee’s Chris Biderman believes that “it’s far more likely Jimmy Garoppolo is the 49ers starting QB in 2021,” following the big trade from this past weekend that sent Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams and Jared Goff to the Detroit Lions.
Lastly, NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo said on Monday that on San Francisco’s list of options for what to do at quarterback this offseason, “Jimmy Garopolo returning as their starting quarterback [in 2021] is high up there.”
So right now, Monday’s swirling rumor doesn’t seem to be anything more than just a repeat of speculation about the 49ers having an interest in Cousins due to the Shanahan connection.
Until actual reports begin to come out about San Francisco contacting the Vikings or the two teams working on a deal, don’t expect either team to be making a trade involving Cousins anytime soon.