Against the Broncos on Saturday, is Kirk Cousins facing his future team?

Following the upcoming season, what are the chances of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins landing with the Denver Broncos?

Before he eventually signed with the Minnesota Vikings, the Denver Broncos were among the teams around the NFL that were reportedly in the running to sign Kirk Cousins when he was a free agent in 2018.

It was even reported that the Broncos had a master plan to sign Cousins and bring back former head coach Mike Shanahan, who was also the head coach for the Washington Football Team in 2012 when they drafted Cousins. But obviously, that plan fell through since the veteran quarterback is currently under contract with the Vikings.

Denver is in town to take on Minnesota on Saturday for an exhibition matchup inside U.S. Bank Stadium. When Cousins hits the field, will he be going up against a Broncos team that could potentially be his next home in 2022?

Denver Broncos connection to Minnesota Vikings QB Kirk Cousins cannot be ignored

I brought the possibility of Cousins potentially landing in Denver after this season with Predominantly Orange’s Sayre Bedinger on the latest episode of “The Viking Age Podcast“.

Bedinger doesn’t think it’s that crazy of a thought to have, especially since there’s a pretty significant difference in the Broncos’ front office compared to when they last had interest in the quarterback in 2018.

Elway is no longer Denver’s general manager. Instead, that position is now held by George Paton, someone who spent the previous 14 years of his life working in the Vikings’ front office. Paton was basically the right-hand man for Minnesota general manager Rick Spielman from 2012 to 2020 when he was the team’s assistant general manager.

Currently, the Broncos have a battle going on in their quarterback room between Drew Lock and former Vikings first-round pick, Teddy Bridgewater. No matter who comes out on top in this battle, there’s a good chance Denver is probably going to be on the hunt for a new signal-caller in 2022.

Whether the Broncos attempt to add an established veteran or draft a top prospect to fill this potential need remains to be seen.

If Denver has more interest in trading for a veteran quarterback who is already in the NFL, many are likely going to link them to current Green Bay Packers signal-caller Aaron Rodgers. The Broncos were suggested as a possible destination for the reigning MVP when he was dealing with all of his drama earlier this offseason.

But if it becomes clear that acquiring Rodgers isn’t going to be possible for the Broncos, they could turn their attention to Minnesota and Cousins.

Currently, Cousins’ contract is set to expire in 2023. If he is traded in 2022, he comes with a cap hit of $35 million. Right now, Over The Cap has Denver projected to have more than $46 million in cap space in 2022, so affording Cousins likely would be a problem for them.

With Paton’s connection to the Vikings and Elway’s previous interest in the veteran quarterback, could Cousins suiting up for the Broncos in 2022 be a realistic possibility? At the very least, it’s definitely something that can’t be ruled out just yet.