The Vikings aren't committed to Cousins beyond 2023, as his recent restructure pushes more of the cap hit to future years without changing the length of the contract, Chip Scoggins of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
The team used void years rather than an extension, but another contract could still happen next offseason or even later this year. While the Vikings hope to find a young quarterback to develop behind their 34-year-old, long-time starter, there's no guarantee of finding the right player this spring or next, especially without the luxury of an early first-round pick. Minnesota's offense largely looks the same as last year through the first few days of the 2023 league year, with the exception of Adam Thielen leaving and blocking tight end Josh Oliver coming over from Baltimore. Quarterback and wide receiver are two of the positions Minnesota could target early in the 2023 Draft, though in terms of filling short-term gaps it's the defense that needs more help. Either way, Cousins is year-to-year with the Vikings, which arguably was the case even before this offseason.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: Plays well in playoff loss
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Cousins completed 31 of 39 pass attempts for 273 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday's 31-24 wild-card round loss to the Giants. He also punched in a one-yard touchdown on his lone rushing attempt.
Cousins was dialed in throughout the contest, providing strong numbers for fantasy lineups despite taking the loss. The veteran signal-caller's day soured on the Vikings' final drive when he targeted a covered receiver for three yards on 4th-and-8, effectively turning the ball over and ending Minnesota's Super Bowl hopes. The 34-year-old finished the regular season with 4,547 passing yards and a 29:14 TD:INT ratio, numbers that should keep him ranked in the upper third of fantasy quarterbacks as we look towards next year. Cousins and his top offensive weapons are all under contract for 2023, so this core will attempt to run it back with a deeper playoff run next season.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: Makes abbreviated appearance
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Cousins completed 17 of 20 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 29-13 win over the Bears.
Cousins' output came despite him only playing the first half of Sunday's game. With Minnesota preparing for the playoffs, backup Nick Mullens filled in while Cousins was rested after halftime. In the wake of a poor performance in Green Bay last weekend, Cousins' improvement Sunday -- when he set a season high for completion percentage -- should help his confidence heading into the postseason.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: May not play full game
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Head coach Kevin O'Connell intimated Friday that Cousins and other key starters on offense and defense may not play the entirety of the Vikings' Week 18 game in Chicago, Joe Nelson of SI.com reports. "We've got a pretty clear cut plan with how we want to go about the whole game, but we're going to go in with the expectation of our guys going and try to get off to a good start and play good football," O'Connell said.
Minnesota is assured no worse than the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs regardless of how this weekend's games transpire, but since the Vikings will need a win over the Bears plus a Cardinals win over the heavily-favored 49ers to climb to the No. 2 seed, O'Connell may not have much incentive to expose key players to an injury heading into the wild-card round. While Cousins and all of the Vikings' other starting skill-position players look poised to play at least one series, the uncertainty of whether they'll play much beyond that makes it tough to reliably project any in Week 18 season-long or DFS lineups.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: Three picks in Sunday's loss
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Cousins completed 18 of 31 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown with three interceptions in Sunday's 41-17 loss to the Packers. He added 37 rushing yards on three carries.
It was a rough day for the entire Vikings offense at Lambeau Field, as Cousins lost two offensive linemen to injury during the game and had little time or space in which to operate. He was replaced by Nick Mullens late in the rout, as the Vikings prioritized keeping Cousins healthy ahead of the playoffs, and with nothing but seeding to play for in Week 18 against the Bears, it wouldn't be surprising if Mullens got the start.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: QBs to Start
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Cousins is on fire heading into Week 17 with at least 29 Fantasy points in three games in a row, and he has 1,184 passing yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions over that span against Detroit, Indianapolis and the Giants. He scored 23 Fantasy points against the Packers in Week 1, and he has at least 23 points in three of his past five meetings with Green Bay. The Packers have allowed three of the past six opposing quarterbacks to score at least 23 Fantasy points, and this game has shootout potential. Cousins again has top-five upside in Week 17.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: Another big effort in win
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Cousins completed 34 of 48 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday's 27-24 win over the Giants.
While the veteran QB didn't quite manage to throw for 400 yards, or even 300, for a third straight game, Cousins still tossed three more touchdowns, giving him a 13:3 TD:INT over the last five contests. He's reached 4,000 passing yards for the third straight season and the seventh time in the last eight years, and Cousins will take massive momentum into a Week 17 clash with the Packers.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: QBs to Start
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Cousins is on fire right now with at least 27 Fantasy points in three of his past four games, and he should stay hot this week. The Giants have allowed three of their past four opposing quarterbacks to throw for at least two touchdowns, with two of those guys (Taylor Heinicke in Week 13 and Jalen Hurts in Week 14) scoring at least 21 Fantasy points. This is expected to be a high-scoring game with an implied total of 48 points, according to Caesars Sportsbook and Casino, and Cousins should lead the way for the Vikings.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: QBs to Start
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Cousins just had a huge game in Week 14 at Detroit with 425 passing yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, and he has now scored at least 27 Fantasy points in two of his past three outings. He should stay hot this week against the Colts, who have allowed three of their past four opposing quarterbacks to score at least 21 Fantasy points. Cousins has the chance to be a top 10 Fantasy quarterback in Week 15.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: Racks up numbers in loss
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Cousins completed 31 of 41 passes for 425 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in the Vikings' 34-23 loss to the Lions on Sunday.
While his numbers are largely the result of the Vikings trailing from the second quarter on, fantasy managers will naturally take the season-high yardage total and seventh multi-touchdown effort of the campaign. Cousins most frequently connected with Justin Jefferson as customary, with the star receiver bringing in 11 of his completions for 223 yards. Despite the disappointing loss, the Vikings are 10-3 and still in the driver's seat for the NFC North crown, and Cousins will aim to get them quickly back in the win column during a Saturday afternoon Week 15 home matchup versus the Colts.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: QBs to Start
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Cousins has struggled lately as a Fantasy quarterback, scoring 17 points or less in three of four games, including just 12 points last week against the Jets. But I expect him to rebound this week in a potential shootout with the Lions. Detroit has allowed three of the past four quarterbacks to score at least 26 Fantasy points. Even last week when Trevor Lawrence struggled and got hurt, he still managed 18 Fantasy points at Detroit. In his last five games against the Lions, Cousins has passed for 1,500 yards with 12 total touchdowns and one interception, and he scored 22 Fantasy points against Detroit in Week 3. And in his last five games in Detroit, Cousins has passed for 1,637 yards with 15 total touchdowns and no interceptions.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: Start Him (Lineup Decisions)
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There's no doubt the Lions defense is getting better, but offenses are still throwing downfield on them even though the squad is getting well north of a 30% pressure rate pretty much every week. It still sets up Cousins to have a good stat line with an outside shot at an epic one. Assuming a floor of 22 Fantasy points, Cousins is an easy start over Dak Prescott (low ceiling against Houston) and Tom Brady.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: Manages Vikings to victory
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Cousins completed 21 of 35 passes for 173 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in Sunday's 27-22 win over the Jets.
Cousins struggled significantly against the tough Jets' defense and was held to only 4.9 yards per attempt. However, he limited mistakes -- he didn't turn the ball over -- and threw a key touchdown to Justin Jefferson from 10 yards away midway through the fourth quarter. Though the Vikings have had plenty of team-level success on the campaign, Cousins has now failed to throw for multiple scores in three of his last four games.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: Sit 'Em
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It's a prime-time game Thursday night. It's against Bill Belichick. It's hard to trust Cousins, who will be without left tackle Christian Darrisaw (concussion). The Patriots allow an average of just 16.0 Fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks, and Sam Ehlinger and Zach Wilson combined for 180 passing yards and no touchdowns in the past two games against New England. Clearly, Cousins is better than those two quarterbacks, but he was terrible against Dallas in Week 11 with just 105 passing yards, a lost fumble and getting sacked seven times. Cousins is only worth using in Superflex and two-quarterback leagues.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: Pulled in blowout loss
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Cousins completed just 12 of 23 pass attempts for 105 yards while losing a fumble in Sunday's 40-3 blowout loss to Dallas.
Cousins was harassed by the Cowboys pass rush from start to finish, resulting in seven sacks for a collective loss of 49 yards Sunday. The offensive line stood no chance against Micah Parsons and company, and the team lost starting left tackle Christian Darrisaw (concussion) to add insult to literal injury. Cousins was pulled for the fourth quarter of this lopsided loss, and Nick Mullens finished the contest with the rest of the backups. Things won't get any easier for the veteran Cousins with a short week on tap against a tough Patriots defense Thursday. The silver lining for fantasy managers is that the Thanksgiving game will be an indoor home matchup as opposed to a late-season game in harsh conditions at Foxborough.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: QBs to Start
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Cousins has enjoyed playing at home this season, scoring at least 22 Fantasy points in all four home games in Minnesota. Hopefully that trend will continue this week against the Cowboys, who have allowed three of the past four opposing quarterbacks to score at least 20 Fantasy points, with Justin Fields and Aaron Rodgers combining for 54 points in the past two weeks. The last time Cousins faced Dallas he struggled on Monday night in Week 8 last year in another prime-time meltdown, but prior to that he scored at least 20 Fantasy points in consecutive games against the Cowboys. He should be a top 10 Fantasy quarterback again this week.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: Start Him (Lineup Decisions)
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Cousins has been too productive to sit. The rise of Justin Jefferson to elite gamebreaker and addition of T.J. Hockenson at tight end has pushed the Vikings passing game into one of the better units in football. I might not expect a big bounce-back game from Cousins, but he should be solid with a shot to be good. I'm prepared to start him over Joe Burrow, Aaron Rodgers and Jimmy Garoppolo.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: Start 'Em
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Cousins has enjoyed playing at home this season, scoring at least 22 Fantasy points in all four home games in Minnesota. Hopefully that trend will continue this week against the Cowboys, who have allowed three of the past four opposing quarterbacks to score at least 20 Fantasy points, with Justin Fields and Aaron Rodgers combining for 54 points in the past two weeks. The last time Cousins faced Dallas he struggled on Monday night in Week 8 last year in another prime-time meltdown, but prior to that he scored at least 20 Fantasy points in consecutive games against the Cowboys. He should be a top 10 Fantasy quarterback again this week.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: Strong showing in close win
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Cousins completed 22 of 40 passes for 265 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the Vikings' 20-17 win over the Commanders on Sunday. He also netted minus-2 yards on two rush attempts.
Cousins put together his fourth 250-yard-plus tally in the last six games while helping snap his old squad's three-game winning streak in his first game back in the nation's capital. The veteran signal-caller did get the wind knocked out of him following a 47-yard completion to Justin Jefferson early in the fourth quarter, per Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, but he ultimately missed just one play. Cousins now has a 5:0 TD:INT in his last three games going into an unenviable Week 10 road matchup against the Bills.
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Vikings' Kirk Cousins: Three total TDs in win
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Cousins completed 24 of 36 passes for 232 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in the Vikings' 34-26 win over the Cardinals on Sunday. He also rushed four times for 22 yards and another score and lost a fumble.
Cousins had one of his trademark efficient efforts, averaging a modest 6.4 yards per attempt against a Cardinals defense that had done a good job of limiting the production of top receivers this season. The veteran was under a fair amount of duress and took three sacks overall, one of which resulted in a fumble at his own 24-yard line that helped lead to an Arizona field goal. However, he made up for it with touchdown passes of one and five yards to Johnny Mundt and K.J. Osborn, respectively, the latter of which came just before the halfway point of the fourth quarter and proved to be the difference in the game. Cousins also had a 17-yard touchdown scamper to open the scoring on the afternoon, giving him plenty of momentum heading into a Week 9 road matchup against his old Commanders team.
