Florio believes Vikings are 'confident' Cousins won't find better deal
If the Vikings want Kirk Cousins back, will they be comfortable if he winds up reaching free agency on March 11? How much of a market will there be for his services?
Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio doesn't sound too impressed and is going as far as saying the Vikings are "confident" that Cousins won't find a better deal than whatever Minnesota is offering him.
"I thought that Kevin O'Connell was as clear as I've heard him on No. 1 they want to keep Kirk Cousins," Florio told KFXN-FM's Paul Allen on Wednesday. "My assessment of the situation is that they have a number that they are willing to extend and that if Kirk Cousins is able to find anything else that he likes better he is free to take it. They are very clear-eyed about it. They are very confident. They use the phrase – Kevin did a couple of times – he has earned the right to bet on himself. And they believe when the time comes for him to go see what else is out there, he will learn that whatever else is out there is not better, that the grass will not be greener in Atlanta or Las Vegas or back in Washington."
Florio also said he's hearing the Steelers might be out of the QB market to give another crack at making it work with Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph.
"Look, when [Cousins] was a free agent six years ago, 29, and healthy, it was the Vikings and Jets, that's it. Now he's 35, coming off a torn Achilles tendon, and once you popped one, you're more likely to pop the other one, and who's going to be out there?" Florio continued.
The possibility of Cousins being left out in the cold in free agency still seems like a farce. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport said this week that he doesn't believe Cousins will be back with the Vikings if he gets to free agency.
But if the bidding war for Cousins is drying up, it could be a major bonus for the Vikings to be able to bring him back at their price point and then draft a quarterback to learn under the veteran for a year or two or three.
Note: Florio's appearance starts at the 21-minute mark in the video below.
Kirk Cousins walks off the field after a loss to the Giants in the 2022-23 playoffs.
Image courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings
