Why treading water needs to end for the Vikings sooner than later
By Luke Parrish
What does history suggest for the Vikings?
Over the past decade, the Vikings rank 11th in the NFL in winning percentage at .547. In that span, Minnesota has just three losing seasons and has never finished a season with fewer than five wins. That is all good and dandy from the viewpoint of being close enough to compete to keep fans engaged, but there has been virtually no success to go with it.
While they have only had three losing seasons, the Vikings also only have two division titles, and two playoff wins since 2012. They’ve made moves that keep them in the mix but have sacrificed opportunities to rebuild and set a higher ceiling for themselves. I’ll dive a bit deeper into that in a little bit, but we need to set the stage a bit more before we can get there.
Signing Kirk Cousins was the move that was supposed to put the Vikings over the top after losing in the NFC Championship with Case Keenum at quarterback. No matter how you want to cut it, the Vikings failed to improve with Cousins under center, for whatever reason you want to believe.
In the process of untapping Cousins, the Vikings have brought in countless offensive coordinators and have continued to add years to Kirk’s contract, but the results up to this point have not matched the money.
Roster building is incredibly complicated in the NFL. Quarterbacks are at the center of every strategy, but there are a number of directions a team can take in order to win at a high level. Paying an above-average quarterback top-tier money and limiting resources elsewhere is not one of those directions.
No matter what excuses he is afforded, Kirk Cousins has not proven enough to be labeled a winner, and the Vikings continue to try to make it work. Since 2016, no player in the NFL has earned more money than Kirk Cousins. There are zero scenarios in which Cousins is the best player in the NFL, nor is he securely a top-five quarterback. The Vikings are overpaying to stay “in the hunt,” and that’s a terrible thing.
Not only has it kept the Vikings from spending money the right way to fill out the roster, but paying Kirk Cousins has also kept the Vikings from pursuing other quarterbacks through the NFL Draft.