3 popular misconceptions about Kirk Cousins in 2021
By Luke Parrish
The Minnesota Vikings have to make a decision on Kirk Cousins before the fan base splits even more.
Kirk Cousins entered the 2021 season as one of the NFL’s second-tier quarterbacks and the Minnesota Vikings paid him accordingly. Minnesota failed to reach the postseason this season after suffering a loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 17 with Cousins sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols, giving a perfect ending to the team’s season.
Kirk gets a lot of the blame when the team loses, but he gets a lot of props when Minnesota plays well – the typical cycle of an NFL quarterback. While he is not a top-tier quarterback in the league, he is also not some replacement-level nobody under center.
Still, his cap hit is going to continue to climb unless another restructure is agreed upon, and the Vikings do not have the talent throughout the roster to justify doing so. Minnesota is far from competitive where it counts and Cousins does not elevate the team enough to hide those roster flaws.
Cousins is going to be a good quarterback for a long time, but he needs to go to the right team. As of right now, Minnesota is not the place for him. The 2021 season was filled with too many misunderstandings and raw stats that do not accurately assess how Cousins performed.
Too many other aspects of the Vikings this season fell back on Cousins one way or another. He should not be the only talking point as the team enters the offseason.