Kirk Cousins and Matt Ryan are eerily similar and that’s terrifying

Where does this leave Cousins?

We are all aware that Kirk Cousins is currently eating up $45 million against the cap for the Vikings in 2022 unless they find another team to take on his money. While that is a sizeable chunk, it might be Minnesota’s best option for the future if they do not want to do a hard reset.

Extending Cousins is an option, but continuing to push his money down the line is going to cause problems – just look at the Saints. Matt Ryan was in a similar boat when he signed a massive extension with the Falcons and now his cap hit is north of $46 million.

With his play and production taking a significant step back, the Falcons are stuck with an average quarterback at the back end of his career with no sign of hope for the immediate future. The Vikings cannot afford to make that same mistake and assume that Kirk will continue playing at a high level over the next three to four years.

The fear of Cousins falling off a bit is something that not enough people are talking about. Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers have played at a high level for a long time, but those are outliers. We cannot expect non-elite passers to be among the league’s best at this stage in their careers.

Minnesota has searched high and low for a reliable long-term quarterback and Kirk Cousins has been the closest they have come. While I acknowledge that he has been a good quarterback for the Vikings, it is also important to note that they can strive for more.

If Kirk sees a similar step back as Ryan, which is something that I think is more than plausible, the Vikings will be handcuffed to not only a huge contract but also a struggling team. That cannot continue beyond 2022 at the very latest.