NFL Network's Peter Schrager believes Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins was on his way to winning the league's Offensive Player of the Year award in 2023.
With the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine officially over, many who were in attendance have returned from Indianapolis with info and speculation about where Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins might be playing next season.
During Monday's episode of "Good Morning Football" on NFL Network, Peter Schrager admitted that heading into this year's Scouting Combine, he didn't think it was possible that the Vikings would let Cousins explore free agency this offseason and potentially sign with a new team.
However, after returning from the Scouting Combine, Schrager revealed that he currently feels "less confident" that the veteran quarterback is going to remain with Minnesota for the 2024 season.
Minnesota Vikings QB Kirk Cousins was apparently on his way to winning a top NFL award in 2023
Before suffering his season-ending torn Achilles injury in Week 8, Cousins was putting up another impressive statistical performance in 2023.
During his eight games on the field this past season, the veteran quarterback completed 69.5 percent of his passes for 2,331 yards (291.4 per matchup), 18 touchdowns, and five interceptions.
However, Cousins also fumbled seven times, ranked 13th in the NFL in passing success rate (46.6 percent), and had just the 19th-best offensive grade from PFF on dropbacks when under pressure during his eight appearances in 2023.
So it was a bit shocking when Schrager also made the claim during Monday's episode of "Good Morning Football" that the Vikings quarterback was "on his way to being NFL Offensive Player of the Year" in 2023 before suffering his Achilles injury.
And then very shortly after making this claim, Schrager then asked, "at 36, is getting the Falcons a Super Bowl?"
So he was going to be the league's Offensive Player of the Year last season, but then, at the same time, he wouldn't be enough to help the Falcons compete for a championship in the near future?
That doesn't make a ton of sense.
Still, the most significant part of anything Schrager said on Monday is that he feels "less confident" about Cousins re-signing with Minnesota this offseason than he did before attending the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine last week.
This is similar to how others have described the buzz about Cousins' future at this year's Scouting Combine.
Many have essentially made the same claim: the Vikings would like to re-sign the veteran quarterback this offseason, but he might be able to get the type of contract he's truly looking for from another team in free agency.