Does Kirk Cousins move indicate Minnesota Vikings dysfunction? | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC

Mike Florio and Chris Simms explore if Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell and G.M. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah are not on the same page, after Kirk Cousins reportedly agreed to a four-year deal with the Falcons. #NBCSports #ProFootballTalk #KirkCousins
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Does Kirk Cousins move indicate Minnesota Vikings dysfunction? | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC
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Speaking of problems yes what problem what how you doing how you doing today how’s everything going oh I’m fine 36 hours later it’s fine you know the Vikings fine this is fine you don’t have a quarterback your quarterback ditched you Sam darnold right no you love Sam

Darnold do I’m I’m I’m with you Sam darnold has untapped potential that six years in the NFL is yet to fully reveal well I mean this this will be hopefully the first time he could be a starter and have the right support system around him

Right but like I’m I mean I the Kirk Cousins Minnesota Vikings thing man I I’m not like it’s one of those where hey it was shocking when it happened I know we talked about it yesterday but I like I there was a part of me that was like

Man I at like 4:30 5:00 yesterday I was like I I wish I could talk about the Kirk Cousins thing more with the Vikings and and talk about it with Mike one more time right because I feel like the more time that’s gone by the more I’m like

What in the hell were the Vikings doing how the hell did they let Kurt Cousins out the door that that that’s what I’m really as the more it goes I go wait you let one of the top quarterbacks in football top 10ish top 12ish we went through the exercise during the

Season out the door for what like a few extra million dollars and like we talk about all the time like you can’t easily replace that you it’s like hey oh yeah we’ll get another guy in here that’s you know what do they say Elite well I I

Don’t who’s going to who you going to get that’s more Elite than Kirk Cousins right now with a team that has a lot of playoff caliber traits you got a coach who was brought there to be Johnny offensive coordinator we’re going to have an awesome offense and you chop a

Leg away from him and take away the quarterback that he’s groomed since he’s got there and done awesome things with I I just I don’t know the more time that goes by I just go what the what the hell was Minnesota thinking not going up and

Making an offer that was worthy in Kirk Cousins mind of staying in town and staying with Minnesota I’m just I’m I think the more time that goes by the more crazier I think Minnesota is for the whole thing I know I thought cousins was gutsy Atlanta’s gutsy Minnesota’s

Crazy to let him out the door I think that’s what I’m coming to the more and more I think about this and let it ruminate in my brain there I think there was an Institutional arrogance that he wasn’t going to find anything better than what they were willing to offer or or they

Strategically crafted the offer daring him Andor inviting him to go find better elsewhere and if you do see you later this gets back to the point that I made yesterday and I wrote about it what was that in the afternoon well and of course Vikings fans are all pissed at me now

The idea that there may be some dysfunction brewing in min inota you may not have a coach in GM on the same page told us the truth of course when he told assuming he was telling us the truth and he doesn’t seem to be that

Kind of guy which makes it harder to Be an Effective coach in the NFL because you do have to lie from time to time or at least avoid the topic all together we believed him when we sat within 5et of him and he told us he wants Kirk Cousins

So the head coach wants him GM qu ad Doo Mena apparently doesn’t or the organization itself ownership doesn’t I mean if if this is a situation where okono and the GM wanted him and ownership didn’t then shame on ownership for not letting their football people do

The job if this is okon wanted him and AD Doo Mena didn’t then you’ve got something that you just need to keep an eye on going how else is this going to manifest itself Connell wants Justin Jefferson we’re not going to trade him I don’t rule out quac adofo men to trade

And Justin Jefferson because Chris I go back to where I was last year my feeling to in meatballs last year was this is it with Kirk Cousins they’re going to try to get themselves in position to draft a franchise quarterback who’ll be there for 10 years or longer and if they have

To trade Justin Jefferson to get into the top of the draft maybe they will and I said before the season started probably on this show right if they don’t extend Jefferson before week one of the 2023 season a trade is in play and I still think a trade’s in play I

Still think it is because one thing we learned whatever ever Kevin oconnell tells us is not on behalf of the organization it’s just on behalf of him no I I have a hard time thinking like you your first options reality with the the owner right I haven’t heard of the

Owners up there sticking their nose and things and being that kind of part of the group right you I I’m I you know your pasta and meatballs you know I think what we heard early on in in the quesi ad doam meno like era as far as talking about you know we’re Elite

Quarterback and all that yeah that to me at the end of the day looks like you know the hay was in the barn already right there was going to have to be something extravagant done by Kirk cusses this year to stay or maybe get the offer he wanted but I agree with you

In your thought that GM and Kevin okono watch out for something there of course my history in the NFL people I know whatever right knowing Kevin okono a little bit knowing the coaches he came from Kur cousins is type of quarterback that’s what he wanted he can run his

Offense and do all the things we talked about he’s got to be Kevin oconnell has to be sitting there going I can’t believe we didn’t offer the extra $4 million or $5 million a year to keep Kurt Cousins he’s got to be going crazy and this is where hey this will be

Lessons for other great you know offensive OC head coaches as they go forward it’s going to be stuff like this that’s going to have them raise their hand and go no I would like power to make the last decision I don’t want to let the GM who has some agenda and for

Some reason is oh we’re going to find an elite quarterback even though we have a really good one he might not be elite but he’s really damn good we’re just going to throw that at the door and go hey we’ll find Elite somewhere it’s falling from the sky that to me is where

It’s crazy and I’m with you Mike I think you we should be all over looking at or looking for friction there between between those two because that’s the kind of move that we saw two days ago that uh will change the dynamic of of any relationship there between a coach and a

GM and this is where fans struggle because on one hand you don’t want anyone stirring up trouble for the team you don’t want to hear anything bad about your team you want to live in a little world of delusion and fantasy that everything is fine okay enjoy that

Then if what I’m sensing is accurate or what you can do is insist on something changing and shame them into becoming not dysfunctional shame them call them out shine a light on it and make it better that’s why I’m anytime A team’s dysfunctional I try to shine the line on

It because fan bases whichever fan base doesn’t deserve to be beholden to and caught up by this reality where there in a damn thing they can do about it other than not go to the games or not watch the games and it’s too late to turn back from your fandom that doesn’t

Happen like you know people toy with the idea from time to time and I’ve heard from some Vikings fans who are sufficiently distraught about what’s gone on to be considering their options good luck with that you can’t just turn that off it’s like turning your back on your family

Not easy to do yeah although some have done it some in football have done it but it’s not easy to do what um that’s later in the show it’s not easy to do for a fan so we’re we’re here to try to shine that light and disinfect these

Situations and get people to realize yeah you want this guy to coach the team and this gets back to the old parcel’s thing you want me to cook the meal you got to let me shop for the groceries they’re not giv Kevin oconnell the ability to go get the guys he wants now

We still don’t know and I’ve been trying to find out what the Vikings offered if the Vikings made a great competitive offer they need to get that out there to make it look like Kirk chose to there’s a chance that that final offer was calculated you hear about the offer you

Can’t refuse sometimes you get an offer that is designed to not be accepted that is specifically engineered to look like it’s being respectful but it’s just on the right side of respectful now Chris you know back to your point from before yesterday the guy’s on one leg the guy’s

Recovering from an Achilles tendon I hear you you’re taking a leap of faith and and I I did write a couple things yesterday about what you can and can’t find out if you’re not the Vikings I saw that as free agency approach F tampered with cousins everybody

Tampers the NFL going this is that one new situation where you’re giving the guy a massive contract two hours into the legal negotiating window and they weren’t allowed to have anything until noon Eastern on Monday they weren’t allowed to talk to the agent about it they weren’t allowed to get any x-rays

Or MRIs or doctor reports the teams still can’t share information between themselves until after 4 p.m. Eastern today clearly the Falcons tampered and if if there’s ever going to be a time that the NFL comes down on somebody frankly it’s this one because it is unprecedented to be sharing that medical

Information and it would be easy to find if the NFL decided to investigate it and that’s part of the the business risk the Falcons are taking here we want this guy we’re getting this guy and we’ll worry about the consequences later but clearly unless they are just foolish and

Reckless and just said I what the hell he looks good in that video where he’s throwing passes on a tennis court unless that was good enough for them they clearly clearly went beyond what we ordinarily see when somebody recruits a guy and talks to a guy and gives numbers

To an agent before we get to that legal tampering window I I would think so you know just again my history knowledge of everything is there there’s no way Atlanta gives him that contract and does that without having extra inside info on the whole situation like I just I have a

Hard time believing that I have a hard time belie they’re just going to do that and go oh well hey we now we’ll just see how the the you know we we we we’ll see how the physical goes you know we got our fan base all excited and everything

But we’ll just see how it goes I mean we hope it works out I mean come on like get get the hell out of here of course they looked at him of course they know a lot about the situation that they’re probably not supposed to know there’s no

Doubt about that and yeah you’re right I mean you brought it up I mean the there’s risks there there’s risk there with Minnesota and all that too you know I and and and I certainly have been one to to you know verb ize that and say

Those type of things too uh but I I guess I still go back to the shock Factor letting him out the door you know what I said yesterday here we are we’re getting towards close to 48 hours I said yesterday I said if we don’t start to hear contract numbers that that means

That they weren’t in the ballpark they were low it was disrespectful I’m going to still hold to that I I feel like if we don’t hear something by today or tomorrow the the it the the the offer is something what what you’re saying there Mike certainly and then I think the more

I think about it hey modern medicine the Achilles injury right we’re seeing people heal from that uh it it just I I guess I’m just you know again I can’t believe they let a franchise Big Time quarterback out the door with you know not really a hard big-time contingency

Plan your contingency plan is what you said and alluded to and joked about a little bit before six years in a guy that we think might be good but we haven’t seen it yet there is some Talent there but hey we got a playoff caliber team we’re going to ride with that guy

That it just when I say it out loud that’s what made me do it I talked out loud yesterday Mike a few times and I was like wait this Minnesota think’s crazy and and that’s really what you know led me to asking you that this morning and and wanting to kind of dive

Back into it one more time yeah thank you very much for that I thank you very much process anger Deni bargaining depression and acceptance and now you tear the Band-Aid off again but look if the Vikings did make a competitive offer this is where the broader PR strategy comes into play we

Need to get that out there we need to make it look like it was him we made we need to make it look like it was close enough that he should have stayed right now this is where the whole Minnesota nice thing comes into play and sometimes

They say the fan base is too tolerant at the team and you know you got to be a little ruthless at times there are times like this special occasions where you got to roll up your sleeves unless at the end of the day this was all about

And again that may be why the numbers aren’t out this was all about going through the motions and letting Kirk Cousins leave yeah he had some great performances last year yeah that Monday night game against the 49ers was arguably the best of his career and that’s what made people like me change

Their opinion and then six days later there goes the Achilles tendon you take that away you know if they just continue on that path to struggles Ville that they were on early in the season it becomes a lot easier to get behind the idea that Kirk Cousins leaving but

Here’s the other reality the Falcons aren’t going to be there he’s not going to have another option that’s the Catch 22 in this if he just has a blah year and nobody says hey that guy really still hey hey this guy could be one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL the

Falcons aren’t paying him 188 million whatever it’s not 180 million but you know what I mean whatever they they’re giving him they’re not giving him that they’re not giving him that deal that has 100 million guaranteed they’re not doing it nobody’s doing it right so the better he played the more attractive he

Became the less likely the Vikings are to keep him but the Vikings I don’t think wanted to keep him anyway you may have people in the Vikings organization who are happy by this outcome we finally offloaded this guy we don’t have to do a Band-Aid and keep him around we’re not

Being pressured by the fan base to keep him around that may be why they kept so quiet you know the Falcons I think kept quiet about it because there probably was some blatant Tamp going on based upon the application of Common Sense and our mutual understanding of the way

Things work I think the Vikings were keeping quiet too because other than Kevin oconnell they were keeping quiet because I think that there were folks there whether it’s Quia doam Mena or somebody else that was kind of like you know this is our way to finally to

Finally get off this highway to get off the Kirk Cousins Highway and move on to something else because what what do we ultimately have to show for it and I’m speaking as if I’m a member of the organization if we’re sitting around a room talking about this what do we

Ultimately have to show for this we’ve got two playoff appearances in years and one playoff win what are we doing this for you know I’ve criticized them in the past I’ve said for the Vikings just good enough is just good enough y so this

This is a way and this is I guess where you know their their willingness to hold firm to their plan comes into play even if the head coach isn’t on board with that plan because he wants Kevin he wants KK cousins to stick around the

Plan is we want a guy that’s going to you know it’s going to allow us to say after six NFL seasons not that we got to the playoffs twice in one-1 playoff game we got to the AFC Championship game or the NFC championship game every damn

Year we went to the Super Bowl four times right now the problem is you can’t wave a magic W and find Patrick Mahomes but I think the Vikings are at the point where they want to try they want to try that that I think is the best way to

Understand how they got to where they are but the problem is and this gets back to the concept of dysfunction you need to have Kevin oconnell on board with that when he’s making the round at The Scouting comat right that’s the problem right as much as we respect him and admire him and

Like him as a coach something went haywire for the Vikings in the runup to this because you got the head coach sending one message and the front office preparing to do something the head coach is doing I think what what I’m talking about what we’re alluding to he’s going

Wait we’re we’re going to let one of the better quarterbacks out the out the door for nothing like we’re just going to let them go that’s it and we don’t really have a plan and we’re kind of in like no man’s land as far as the quarterback

Situation you know we’re in a spot where we we might not get you know the top three guys at least you know that’s where I think that’s obvious as the more I think about it a Telltale sign they were not on the same page yes I think

That that speaks to it he would have had different language at the combine if he was going along with the rest of the front office I think the what he was saying at the at the combine was his way of publicly pushing back a little bit and putting a little pressure on it

Without being a jerk or you know making it too obvious I I mean I think you know at the end of the day and I look back at it all and think about it more and more I think that’s exactly what it was he’s sitting there scratching his head going

I I can’t believe this we’re going to let this guy go he just we’ve gone up and down the field against everybody in football ever since I got him as a quarterback and we’re just going to throw him away and I I think he was probably shocked by that of course he

Was how could he not be and that’s the reality going forward Vikings fans I know you might not want to hear this but something like this leaves a scar it it it is the kind of thing that impacts relationships in a negative way they better have some weekend somewhere

Where they do team building exercises to get everybody back on the same page and even that’s not going to work you know what’s going to work is winning that’s the only thing that’s going to work qua doa’s plan has to be validated of course for it to be validated Kevin oconnell

Has got to do superhuman Feats getting Sam darnold to play like Kirk Cousins or they have to find a Patrick Mahomes in the draft whoever they get with pick number 11 you know I talk all the time about pressure on a quarterback what if they trade up

What if they dangle Justin Jefferson to trade up to number three get one of the top guys lots a hell of a lot of pressure on that guy and on the team to get the most out of him and the guy that’s going to be expected to do it is

The guy that just wanted to keep kurk cousins in the first place yeah I wanted to keep Kirk Cousins I we had put in all the work the guy’s ready to explode and he’s going to explode for someone else now I got to start from scratch with

This new guy I hope the hell when it’s time to pick a quarterback they at least listen to Kevin okono because that’s the only way to make this worse is if they draft a guy that they like and he doesn’t if he likes somebody else so

That that’s one way as they pick up the pieces on this okell needs to be a little more ruthless and a little more aggressive and he needs to leverage this into a position of all right fine you got your way but whoever you draft if

This is the guy I’m going to be expected to turn into a real quarterback I need a seat at the table I need to have a real voice here I need to have more of a voice than I had with Kirk I need the

Guy I want if you expect me to turn this guy into the franchise quarterback the organization hasn’t had since Fran tar yeah agreed with you there 100% they got to let him be involved with that hi it’s Mike Florio thanks for watching PFT on YouTube hit subscribe for the latest

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