#534: Minnesota Vikings PROVEN RIGHT after Atlanta Falcons BENCH Kirk Cousins

Speaker 1 (00:06):
This show is absolutely loaded this morning, and I'm gonna
have two episodes coming out today because there is so
much to talk about if you're a Minnesota Vikings fan
or an NFL fan in general, because the latest news

(00:28):
out of Atlanta has everyone talking, not just Vikings fans,
not just Falcons fans, but we're talking about national media
discussing what happened to Kirk Cousins and the Falcons next
steps to put in Michael Pennix Junior, their rookie quarterback,

(00:54):
their investment that they selected out of the University of Washington,
So let's talk about it. Here's a statement from the
Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris says this, after review,
we have made the decision Michael Pennix Junior will be

(01:16):
the Atlanta Falcons starting quarterback moving forward. This was a
football decision and we are fully focused on preparing the
team for Sunday's.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
Game against the New York Giants.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Kirk Cousins is benched, and from the Atlanta Falcons perspective,
they waited until the last possible moment to start Michael
PENNOCKX Junior because they gave kirk Cousins all of the
money in the world, and if you're going to invest

(01:58):
that much money in a free aid see quarterback, you
are going to give him time after time after time,
time after time to prove himself worthy of that contract
that you invested in him. And the Atlanta Falcons finally
got to their breaking point and said, you know what,

(02:21):
we're gonna eat a bunch of this salary. He's not
going to make it an entire year, made a fourteen games.
Fourteen games, Kirk Cousins did eighteen touchdowns sixteen interceptions. In
his last five weeks, he's had one touchdown compared to
nine interceptions. So you think about where Kirk Cousins was

(02:44):
before the last five weeks, He's at eighteen and sixteen
right now. Before that, he was at seventeen touchdowns and
seven interceptions.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
That's a very respectable number.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
And what's funny is that he started the season Pittsburgh
one touchdowns, two picks. Had a brilliant performance against the Eagles.
They were down, they had a major comeback, two touchdowns,
zero interceptions, two hundred and forty one yards on Monday
Night football. And I remember him being interviewed after that game,

(03:20):
and you know, the discussion. It just took him time
to get his feet wet and feel comfortable coming off
the ruptured achilles all makes sense. Next week against the
Chiefs one touchdown, one pick, fine, next week against the Saints,
zero touchdowns, one pick, and then against Tampa Bay Thursday night,

(03:41):
four touchdowns, one pick. So Couses is finding his groove.
A couple of weeks later against Tampa Bay again, four touchdowns,
zero picks. Next week against Dallas three touchdowns, zero picks,
and then something happened. Kirk Cousins falls off the literal cliff.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
Because he went four touchdowns zero big three touchdown, zero picks.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
Has the Atlanta Falcons at six and three looking like
a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Where the b John Robinson,
Kyle Pitts, Darna Mooney, Drake London, They've got a good
roster and the Atlanta Falcons have fallen off a cliff
with Kirk Cousins.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
And what's so funny is that how many.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Times has a benching happened after a team won a
football game. They beat the Raiders on Monday Night, fifteen
to nine. Kirk Cousins was terrible. Eleven touchdown eleven for
seventeen one touchdown, one pick, one hundred and twelve yards
QBR of nine, a passer rating of seventy eight point six.

(04:48):
But how many times does a quarterback get benched after
they actually win. This is historical stuff, so it's crazy.
And you look at what Sam Donald has done this
year twenty nine touchdowns, eleven interceptions, and in the same

(05:09):
stretch of five games, last five games Cousins one touchdown,
nine picks, last five games for Sam Donald twelve touchdowns,
one interception.

Speaker 2 (05:24):
You know, I'm not.

Speaker 1 (05:27):
Upset at Kirk Cousins for leaving the Minnesota Vikings because
it's what we all would have done. Think about it, Okay,
you got one hundred and eighty million, got this contract
floating around over here, or you know what, you could
decide to take a two year deal knowing your rookie's.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
Going to replace you.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
Because at the end of the day, Cousins had no
idea they were drafting Michael Pennock junior to go back
to draft. I remember the reports Cousins and his agent
were shell shocked. They took Michael Pennix Junior with the
eighth overall pick.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Shell shocked.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
That's why he left Minnesota because they knew they wanted
to draft a quarterback to replace him, So who wants
to stay in Minnesota just to have the fans calling
for a rookie quarterback whoever that was going to be
at the time, and who wants to play with that
pressure on a two year contract, knowing you're probably not

(06:28):
even going to play that second year. Makes sense to
go to Atlanta. They don't have a quarterback there, they
draft one anyways. Cousins signs a four year, one hundred
and eighty million dollar contract with ninety million fully guaranteed,
and he's heading into the bench after fourteen games. It's
a decision we all would have made because it was

(06:50):
a logical decision. There's nothing illogical about what Kirk Cousins
did to sign with the Atlanta Felcons. But at the
end of the day, his production has dropped and he's
playing one of his worst NFL seasons ever. And the
insiders have done a little, you know, update on what

(07:15):
would happen to Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons Adam Schefter.
If the Falcons were to cut Cousins prior to the
start of the twenty twenty five league year, they would
have sixty five million in dead money. If they were
to trade him, the twenty seven point five millions may
sellar guarantee would transfer over to the acquiring team, so

(07:35):
then the Falcons would just be responsible for the thirty
seven point five million of the poration. So either way
you look at it, it is not good for the
Atlanta Falcons and Kirk Cousins will be on a new
team next season in all likelihood. And there are some

(08:00):
other thing about how they release him with like a
post one June Yeah, hear it is. If the Falcons
release Kirk Cousins with a post June one designation, they
would have forty million in dead money in twenty twenty

(08:21):
five and twenty five million in twenty twenty six. So
that's probably the likely scenario for the Atlanta Falcons. But
at the end of the day, Kirk Cousins will be
looking for a new team and I can't help, But
wonder is the Minnesota Vikings a good fit for Kirk Cousins.

(08:43):
Would he come back to Minnesota and be J. J.
McCarthy's backup next season because we know we're losing Sam Donald.
Sam Donald is not signing a two year deal for
seventy million.

Speaker 2 (08:59):
Dollars with the Minnesota Vikings.

Speaker 1 (09:00):
The Saustins, He's going to cash out like Kirk Cousins
did with the Atlanta Falcons.

Speaker 2 (09:05):
It's the logical play.

Speaker 1 (09:07):
Well, Kirk Cousins come back and sign a minimum deal
like Russell Wilson did with the Pittsburgh Steelers and try
to revitalize anything he's got left in his career with
a team he knew he had success with. Now probably not,
I would guess not. I guess that, I would guess

(09:28):
that's not the move. I would guess the move would
be Kirk Cousins tries to find a team like Carolina
or the Giants, some other team that's a terrible team
in a terrible city and a terrible copyright common Man
program on Kfan. But he's probably not coming back to Minnesota,

(09:51):
and I don't even know if Minnesota would want Kirk
Cousins at this point in his career. But I could
see it from the vik Respective. Okay, a one year
veteran minimum, be the backup to J. J. McCarthy and
start a few games if McCarthy's not quite ready from
his knee issues, which have you know, sparked some concern

(10:13):
because he's had to do a little clean up a
few times, and Kirk Cousins is capable, at least he's
showed himself capable in Minnesota over these few years that
he is there, and over the few years he is
with Kevin o'kannen. I wouldn't rule it out, but I
would say the likelihood of Kirk Cousins returning to the

(10:34):
Minnesota Vikings is.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
Probably not going to happen.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
But you've got to give a lot of credit to
the Vikings in this scenario for giving Cousins options in
leaving the Vikings. They were not guaranteeing him a three
to four year deal. They're saying, you know what, here's
the deal. You like it, take it if you don't
go somewhere else, And they were playing hardball with him,

(11:03):
and Kirk Cousins was trying to negotiate with the Vikings,
trying to get him to that three to four year
security like any quarterback or any player in the NFL
would want, and the Vikings are like, heck, no, off
an achilles.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
Tear, you're already late thirties.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
No, we're not going to sign it to the three
or four year deal. Look at the Falcons now, they've
got all this money tied to Kirk Cousins over the
next few years, whether it's dead cat money, whether they
somehow keep him on the roster, which isn't gonna happen.
But Quesiadolfo Mensaw is grinning from ear to ear this
morning because it is confirmed that he made the right

(11:43):
decision in not bringing kirk Cousins back and giving him
an option to leave. So credit to the Vikings organization,
they are the winners. Credit to Sam Darnold, he is
the winner. And all this and Kirk Cousins. You know,
from Washington to Minnesota to Atlanta, you know, there's never

(12:04):
it's never a good look on any player's career to
be on three teams in three years at the end,
because that just means you're fishing for anybody to take you.
You're just looking for any kind of hook that will
snake you. And no one is going to be interested
in Kirk Cousins next year, at least not any good team.

(12:28):
There's not gonna be a playoff contenter that looks at
Kirk Cousins and says, you.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
Know what, I want that guy on my roster. That's
not gonna be the case.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
It's gonna be you know, terrible teams like the Giants
and Panthers and Raiders that are looking at maybe a
one shining moment for Kirk Cousins.

Speaker 2 (12:47):
At the end of his career.

Speaker 1 (12:49):
Kirk Cousins is done, at least if he wants to
be a starting quarterback on a good team. It's not happening.
It's over for him. So I like Kirk Cousins as
the man. He's a man of faith and I love
that about him. I'm a man of faith. But at
the same time, he left, which is a decision we

(13:10):
all would have made for the money, and now he's
paying the consequences for his decision.

Speaker 2 (13:18):
Hey, you know what, what.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
Are the consequences. He's riding the bench. You know why,
he's still getting paid, still get paid his ninety million.
If you're Kirk Cousins, you got bench, but you're still winning.
Ninety million guaranteed, is a lot more than the seventy
million dollar contract of the Vikings we're offering. So you know,
we talk about the benching and you know where he's
gonna play next year. Kirk Cousins still won. He's probably

(13:43):
gonna be on a different team next year.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
Anyway.

Speaker 1 (13:45):
With Michael Pennings Junior, it's not like Pennis Junior is
a twenty one year old player. He is an old rookie.
They're gonna move on to him eventually. They has moved
on to him a little bit earlier than they anticipated,
So Cousins, he'll be gone next year, but he's still
a winner ninety million guaranteed.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
Okay, I'll put that in my pocket.

Speaker 1 (14:05):
Not the wrong with that, but yeah, there'll be somewhere
else it could it be a Minnesota Maybe probably not,
but maybe. All right, everyone, thank you for watching and
for making this podcast part of your day.

Speaker 2 (14:14):
Hit that's subscribe button right there,