Kevin O’Connell not committing to a future with Kirk Cousins

In a recent radio interview, Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell was very honest about the future of Kirk Cousins in the Twin Cities.

When he was asked about Kirk Cousins during his introductory press conference as the new head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, Kevin O’Connell said that he is “anticipating,” the team’s current starting quarterback being a part of what they have planned for the future.

That was only a week ago, but O’Connell’s tune about Cousins’ future with the Vikings has already seemed to experience a significant amount of change.

On Wednesday, Minnesota’s new head coach participated in a radio interview with WCCO’s Chad Hartman. O’Connell was asked by Hartman if he could say “without any hesitation that when training camp begins, Kirk Cousins will be on [the Vikings], and thus will be the No. 1 quarterback when [the Vikings report] in July?”

With the opportunity to fully commit to Cousins as the Vikings‘ starting quarterback for the 2022 season, here’s how O’Connell answered the question.

"“I can tell you, training camp is a long way away in my mind from standpoint of what any position may look like. I do appreciate the question, but I think we’ve got to look at things in a short-term way of just how we build this thing for what’s going to come during the season. Training camp will obviously be a huge part of that as we build towards that first football game.”"

Kevin O’Connell knows Kirk Cousins remaining with the Minnesota Vikings is no guarantee

O’Connell did go on to say that he loves Cousins and that he thinks the world of the veteran quarterback. But the fact that the Minnesota head coach did not just come out and say “yes” in response to Hartman’s question is very telling.

It seems like someone from the Vikings’ front office probably talked to O’Connell after his comments about Cousins during his introductory press conference and asked him to tone down his feelings a bit.

Minnesota knows that it’s still possible that the veteran quarterback could return for the 2022 season, but they also don’t want to make it seem to other teams that they’re not open to listening to trade offers for Cousins.

Things regarding the quarterback’s future will probably come even more into focus next week when the NFL Scouting Combine gets underway and the Vikings will have a number of opportunities to meet other teams about potential trades involving Cousins.