Minnesota Vikings rumors aren't very frequent at this time of the year, but one involving Kirk Cousins and the San Francisco 49ers has been floating around recently.
Early July typically isn't the time in which there is an overflow of Minnesota Vikings rumors to sift through. But a recent one, unsurprisingly, has Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins linked to the San Francisco 49ers.
Last week, ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio suggested that there could potentially be a "tug of war" between the 49ers and Los Angeles Rams over who gets to sign Cousins if the quarterback hits free agency in 2024.
On Monday, The Athletic's Matt Barrows cooled down this rumor a bit when he wrote that Cousins ending up with San Francisco next season "seems unlikely."
Vikings Rumors: San Francisco 49ers already have a "younger, cheaper" version of Kirk Cousins
There are multiple reasons why Barrows believes Cousins won't be suiting up for the 49ers for the 2024 season.
The first being their current approach to the salary cap. Instead of investing a bunch of money into a quarterback, San Francisco has been spending most of their cap space on other position groups like wide receivers, defensive ends, and offensive tackles.
Barrows believes that if the 49ers were to get in a "bidding war" for the current Vikings signal-caller in 2024, they would "have to rethink the way they’ve organized their salary cap."
In addition to their current salary cap strategy, Barrows also mentions that San Francisco believes they already have a "younger, cheaper, and more mobile version of Cousins" in second-year quarterback Brock Purdy.
Despite these two reasons, Barrows did share that he could possibly see 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan "rekindling his interest in Cousins" if a scenario plays out where Purdy suffers another significant injury, and the team cannot find a suitable replacement.
So, in the end, Barrows did leave the door cracked ever so slightly in order for the Cousins connection to San Francisco to stay alive. Because unfortunately, until Cousins either retires or actually signs with the 49ers, this speculation will likely just continue to happen during each and every offseason.