That’s what bothers me about Cousins, (besides his contract) he deflects blame onto everyone else (and inanimate objects like room size) but accepts none himself.
The Vikings can make this offense work but stay within the framework given by Zimmer, but they’ve got to stop the ridiculous 3rd and long “we give up” running plays.
Like you said Matthew, get the WRs and passing game more involved earlier in the game.
Great article Matthew! Just a quick scan of 2021 NFL starting QB salaries and Cousins comes in 8th behind (in order): Mahomes, Allen, Prescott, Watson, Wilson. Rodgers and Goff - with Wentz and Ryan just behind Kirk. Reality is unless you are fortunate enough to have a good/great QB on a rookie contract, or have a quarterback willing to structure their deal in a team friendly fashion (looking at you Tom Brady), the sport's most important position is always going to take up a significant/lopsided chunk of a team's annual payroll!
Personally I have always thought of Kirk as being at worst the 16th best QB in the league and at best fringe top 10. So are the Wilf's getting value for their money with Kirk? I would say his salary is not that far off being considered "market value" when you look at the list of names mentioned above. That being said, he's a way better QB in my opinion than Goff and Wentz, but no way in the same atmosphere as Tom Brady.
So what happens going forward? I haven't the foggiest idea. I do predict however if they make the playoffs and have at least one playoff win in the 2021 season that Kirk will be extended. Anything less than that - including a first round playoff loss - then that's the last we will see of #8!
I wouldn't call myself much of a fan of Cousins. He seems to be (for lack of a better term) an odd guy that probably doesn't have strong leadership skills. He tends to wilt during big moments.
But regardless of a quarterback's deficiencies, I expect the head coach to be the adult in the room. When I heard that Kirk and Mike met recently to watch film for the first time, I was gobsmacked. How can this be viewed as anything other than a failure on the part of Mike Zimmer to perform his duties as a head coach?
I doubt that there's a single one of us reading this article that haven't been in a professional situation where we had to work/collaborate with a co-worker we didn't like. But you grit your teeth and do it because you're a professional.
Between this admission and Mike's recent slew of odd "over-sharing", I suspect that things are far more dysfunctional behind the scenes than we realize. But as Matthew and Sam have correctly pointed out in the past, Mike Zimmer is a very good (albeit flawed) coach. It's not as simple as just replacing him. Not at least without taking a significant risk.
Cousins requested a film watching session with Coach Grumpy Pants? Interesting…
“… we can only assume that the heat is on based on tea leaves.” Exactly. The Wilfs are businessmen. Is the franchise making them money? I believe so. Is Coach Zimm a bad coach? I don’t believe so. Is there a Holmgren level coach available? No. But the bottom line to me is this: The Wilfs are making money.
That’s what bothers me about Cousins, (besides his contract) he deflects blame onto everyone else (and inanimate objects like room size) but accepts none himself.
The Vikings can make this offense work but stay within the framework given by Zimmer, but they’ve got to stop the ridiculous 3rd and long “we give up” running plays.
Like you said Matthew, get the WRs and passing game more involved earlier in the game.
Great article Matthew! Just a quick scan of 2021 NFL starting QB salaries and Cousins comes in 8th behind (in order): Mahomes, Allen, Prescott, Watson, Wilson. Rodgers and Goff - with Wentz and Ryan just behind Kirk. Reality is unless you are fortunate enough to have a good/great QB on a rookie contract, or have a quarterback willing to structure their deal in a team friendly fashion (looking at you Tom Brady), the sport's most important position is always going to take up a significant/lopsided chunk of a team's annual payroll!
Personally I have always thought of Kirk as being at worst the 16th best QB in the league and at best fringe top 10. So are the Wilf's getting value for their money with Kirk? I would say his salary is not that far off being considered "market value" when you look at the list of names mentioned above. That being said, he's a way better QB in my opinion than Goff and Wentz, but no way in the same atmosphere as Tom Brady.
So what happens going forward? I haven't the foggiest idea. I do predict however if they make the playoffs and have at least one playoff win in the 2021 season that Kirk will be extended. Anything less than that - including a first round playoff loss - then that's the last we will see of #8!
Good read Matt. Let’s hope Zimmer let’s go of Kirks leash this year.
Bravo, Coller. Fantastic article. Thanks!
Cousins is a good quarterback but is his talent worth another 10-15 million per year that could be used elsewhere?
I wouldn't call myself much of a fan of Cousins. He seems to be (for lack of a better term) an odd guy that probably doesn't have strong leadership skills. He tends to wilt during big moments.
But regardless of a quarterback's deficiencies, I expect the head coach to be the adult in the room. When I heard that Kirk and Mike met recently to watch film for the first time, I was gobsmacked. How can this be viewed as anything other than a failure on the part of Mike Zimmer to perform his duties as a head coach?
I doubt that there's a single one of us reading this article that haven't been in a professional situation where we had to work/collaborate with a co-worker we didn't like. But you grit your teeth and do it because you're a professional.
Between this admission and Mike's recent slew of odd "over-sharing", I suspect that things are far more dysfunctional behind the scenes than we realize. But as Matthew and Sam have correctly pointed out in the past, Mike Zimmer is a very good (albeit flawed) coach. It's not as simple as just replacing him. Not at least without taking a significant risk.
Cousins requested a film watching session with Coach Grumpy Pants? Interesting…
“… we can only assume that the heat is on based on tea leaves.” Exactly. The Wilfs are businessmen. Is the franchise making them money? I believe so. Is Coach Zimm a bad coach? I don’t believe so. Is there a Holmgren level coach available? No. But the bottom line to me is this: The Wilfs are making money.