There are a number of reasons why the Chicago Bears might actually be a legitimate landing spot for Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins in 2024.
Long before he became a member of the Minnesota Vikings, veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins grew up in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, rooting against the purple and gold as a fan of the Chicago Bears.
Fast forward to 2024, and if the Bears want to, they could easily bring Cousins home to start for the team he cheered for as a young child.
With Chicago currently in possession of the No. 1 selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, most assume they will use that pick on former USC quarterback Caleb Williams. But what if the Bears signed Cousins to be their starter instead and then used their two top-10 selections in this year's draft (Chicago also has the No. 9 pick) to improve other areas of their roster?
Why the Chicago Bears stealing Kirk Cousins away from the Minnesota Vikings is believable for 2024
On Friday, the NFL officially set the 2024 salary cap for each of the 32 teams around the league $255.4 million. With the announcement, Chicago is currently projected to have more than $80 million in cap space this offseason, according to OverTheCap.com.
So, regardless of how much money Cousins is seeking this year (aside from an absurd amount), the Bears would easily be able to afford the veteran quarterback.
If Chicago were to sign Cousins this year, they could then use the No. 1 pick on an elite non-quarterback prospect like former Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., former Notre Dame offensive tackle Joe Alt, or former Alabama pass rusher Dallas Turner.
Adding to the possibility of Cousins signing with the Bears this offseason is the person Chicago recently hired to be their new offensive coordinator.
Following the conclusion of the 2023 season, the Bears parted with Luke Getsy as their offensive coordinator and hired Shane Waldron as his replacement.
Waldron spent the past three years as the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator, but before that, he had multiple roles as a member of the Los Angeles Rams coaching staff from 2017 to 2020.
During his tenure with the Rams under head coach Sean McVay, he spent time as the team's tight ends coach (2017), passing game coordinator (2018 to 2020), and quarterbacks coach (2019).
In 2020, current Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell was Los Angeles's offensive coordinator, so he and Waldron worked together to develop the team's passing attack each week.
Oh yeah, and in 2016, Waldron was an offensive quality control coach for the Washington Commanders when their starting quarterback was none other than Kirk Cousins.
So, as one can see, there has been a lot of crossover between Waldron and Cousins and Waldron and coaches that Cousins has also worked with. It seems safe to assume that Chicago's new offensive coordinator will likely be running a bunch of concepts that the current Minnesota quarterback is very familiar with.
Plus, Waldron is coming off of a stint with the Seahawks in which he squeezed the last few drops of skill out of Russell Wilson in 2021, and he helped Geno Smith have a resurgent performance in 2022 that led to him winning the league's Comeback Player of the Year award for that season.
Based on his past success with veteran quarterbacks, one would assume Waldron would be able to get the most out of Cousins in his offense as well.
So, during the next few weeks, when we continue to hear about Cousins possibly signing with the Atlanta Falcons or Pittsburgh Steelers or returning to the Vikings, don't be surprised if the Bears begin to become part of the conversation.