Kirk Cousins, Marcus Davenport Among ESPN's Players Under Most Pressure in 2023

There's a lot riding on the 2023 season for Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and outside linebacker Marcus Davenport. The two are at inflection points as they prepare to hit free agency next offseason, which is why they're among the 17 players listed by ESPN's Bill Barnwell as being "under the most pressure" this year.

Cousins, for the first time since joining the Vikings in 2018, is entering the final year of his deal. Whether or not he has a big season in his second year with Kevin O'Connell may determine the trajectory of his career in his late 30s. As Barnwell writes, it's less about money for Cousins than it is perception and the opportunity to win a title.

Having pocketed more than $200 million across his career, Cousins doesn't need the money. His numbers are fine, but he doesn't have a realistic path to the Hall of Fame. The one thing left for the 34-year-old to accomplish before he retires is changing minds. The popular perception of him as a quarterback is that he's just good enough to disappoint you by losing in the postseason. Cousins has this 2023 season in Minnesota and some indeterminate number of seasons in the future elsewhere to rewrite his legacy.

Where he ends up in 2024 might depend on how he performs in 2023. If Cousins plays well, there might be a path to a new deal with the Vikings. He could be in line for a move to a starting job on a more competitive team, with the oft-mooted reunion with Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco as one possibility. If he struggles, he would likely fall onto the path Andy Dalton and Joe Flacco traversed after leaving their longtime teams, either settling for bridge work or a low-upside starting opportunity somewhere in 2024, keeping him out of the Super Bowl picture.

Cousins desperately wants to win a Super Bowl before his career is over. He's doing everything he can to maximize and extend his remaining window as an NFL starter. If he can't win a title with the Vikings this year, he at least needs to play well enough to get another opportunity to lead a potential contender.

Davenport, meanwhile, is looking to prove himself and spark his career in Minnesota after five inconsistent seasons with the Saints. The former first-round pick has put up solid pressures rates and PFF grades year after year, but his sack totals have fluctuated and he never earned more than 533 total snaps in a season in New Orleans.

If he shines in his new home, he should be in a line for a big payday next offseason, when he'll be 27. If he struggles, he may have to settle for another short-term deal, this time worth less than the $13 million he got from the Vikings.

Last season was critical for Davenport, whom the Saints used two first-round picks to move up to acquire in the 2018 draft. It didn't go well. Playing out his fifth-year option, Davenport racked up a half-sack in 15 games while playing just 490 defensive snaps. He ceded opportunities to Carl Granderson and Kaden Elliss, players who didn't have Davenport's résumé as a first-round pick but simply outplayed him.

Davenport showed enough before the 2022 campaign to attract some interest in free agency. He signed a one-year deal with the Vikings for $13 million, allowing the 26-year-old to re-enter the free agent market if he has a big season. He's still a great talent and can be a rotational end for years to come given his size, but he needs to follow in the footsteps of Shaq Barrett and Kyle Vanden Bosch and turn his career around as a pass-rusher immediately after joining a new team.

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