NFL Exec Comments on Vikings Losing Kirk Cousins, Danielle Hunter in Free Agency

This offseason saw two of the Vikings' best players and veteran mainstays depart and sign huge contracts with new teams. Kirk Cousins inked a massive four-year deal with the Falcons, ending his time in Minnesota after six seasons, and Danielle Hunter signed with his hometown Texans after spending nine years with the Vikings.

Did GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the Vikings make the right moves in allowing those two perennial Pro Bowlers to leave in free agency? They signed a younger, slightly cheaper Hunter replacement in Jonathan Greenard, who is coming off a breakout season with the Texans. Cousins has been replaced by Sam Darnold, who will almost certainly be joined in the quarterback room by a first round pick in three weeks' time.

Over at The Athletic, Mike Sando talked to executives around the league about all 32 teams' offseasons. Here's what one anonymous exec had to say about the Vikings' decision to let Cousins walk:

“If you don’t feel like he’s a guy who can win you Super Bowls and he’s old and he’s injured, there is no better time to move on from him than right now. If they paid Kirk, they can’t field the things you need to make a young guy successful. The issue with them is not that they are getting rid of Kirk, but that they did not do enough to plan ahead."

In that vein, Sando pointed out that the timing of the Vikings letting Cousins leave was interesting. Whereas many teams have initiated a quarterback transition by adding a young player while already having a veteran starter on the roster, the Vikings have just Darnold and Nick Mullens and a draft pick that isn't even in the top ten (for now).

As for replacing Hunter with Greenard, another anonymous exec liked that move.

“I would rather pay Greenard $19 million a year over 4-5 years than Danielle Hunter $24.5 million over two."

All in all, it seems like the Vikings did well to reset a bit this offseason. They moved on from older players like Cousins, Hunter, and Jordan Hicks, and brought in a talented class of free agents ranging from 26 to 29 years old (Greenard, Darnold, Andrew Van Ginkel, Blake Cashman, Aaron Jones, Shaquill Griffin). They're eating a ton of dead money this year, but their salary cap is in great shape for 2025 and beyond.

Now they just need to nail this draft and land their quarterback of the future.

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