5 Vikings players that should stick around for the 2023 season

Kirk Cousins – QB

If the Vikings choose to go in this direction “good but not great” might be the theme of the offseason. Kirk Cousins had a good year with eight fourth-quarter comebacks and an increased presence in the locker room, but greatness has eluded him throughout his career even during a 13-win season.

The thing with Cousins is that you could certainly do worse. Even general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah – who said he expects Cousins will be the starter in 2023 – admitted this in an interview with USA Today’s Jori Epstein last summer.

"“The one asset where you get nervous about not burning it down is quarterback. …[We have] a good quarterback [but] we don’t have Tom Brady. We don’t have Patrick Mahomes. … [The Super Bowl] is more likely to win if you have that quarterback [but] it’s very unlikely to have that quarterback.”"

A look around the NFL validates Adofo-Mensah’s comments as there are quarterbacks that may not have the arm strength or talent that Cousins has. This leads to the fear of doing much worse at quarterback if they decide to let Cousins go.

In this scenario, Cousins has to be the quarterback in 2023. Even if the Vikings wanted to trade him, they would have to have Cousins agree to it thanks to the no-trade clause in his contract. Furthermore, there doesn’t seem to be a quarterback that could help them sustain the level of success they had a year ago.

This doesn’t mean that the Vikings wouldn’t draft a quarterback or make a trade for a signal caller to groom as the quarterback of the future. But it does make sense to bring Cousins back for one more season and take their swing in 2024.