The Minnesota Vikings made a tough decision when they let Kirk Cousins sign with the Atlanta Falcons last spring. But they’re about to benefit from that move again according to the latest compensatory pick projections for the 2025 NFL Draft.
Over The Cap projects Cousins’s departure as one of two moves from last season netting their teams a third-round pick in the compensatory process.
While an actual number isn’t attached, Cousins is the first name on the list ahead of Robert Hunt’s departure from the Miami Dolphins, which could give the Vikings the 97th overall pick at the end of the third round in April’s draft.
Minnesota Vikings 2025 compensatory pick shows, once again, they made the right decision with Kirk Cousins
Another top-100 pick is more evidence the Vikings made the right call with Cousins. Minnesota refused to make a long-term commitment to Cousins when he became a free agent last spring and Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons shortly after the beginning of the league year.
The move proved disastrous for Atlanta, who is expected to release Cousins this spring after benching him for rookie Michael Penix Jr. in December. But the move benefitted the Vikings in many ways including a free-agent spending spree that included Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, Blake Cashman, and Aaron Jones.
The Vikings also signed Sam Darnold to a one-year, $10 million contract to replace Cousins and he led them to a 14-3 record. While things didn’t turn out for the Vikings in the playoffs, it painted a brighter future than the 7-10 wins Cousins gave the Vikings most seasons.
The compensatory pick for Cousins gives Minnesota some much-needed flexibility heading into this year’s draft. The Vikings have their first-round pick (24th overall) but have just four picks total with two fifth-rounders and a seventh-rounder after trading up for J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner in last year’s draft.
The third-round projection helps the Vikings in that regard but they can add on to it if they decide to trade Darnold. While Darnold is a free agent, the Vikings can use the franchise tag and trade him to another quarterback-needy team to add to their draft capital.
Similar deals in the past gave the New England Patriots the 34th overall pick (Patrick Chung) for Matt Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel in 2009 and the Kansas City Chiefs netted Kendall Fuller and the Chiefs acquired a third-round pick (Dorian O’Daniel) and cornerback Kendall Fuller in 2018.
Either way, Cousins’ departure has once again benefitted the Vikings, showing the front office that it was the right decision to move on.