The Vikings opted to keep many starting players in place, even with a new general manager and head coach. However, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah admits he has at least considered a quarterback change.
“I’m going to be blunt,” Adofo-Mensah told USA Today’s Jori Epstein. “The only asset you get nervous about not burning it is the quarterback.”
The general manager agrees that Cousins is a “good quarterback”, but Adofo-Mensah added that “we don’t have Tom Brady . . . we don’t have Pat Mahomes.
So is Cousins good enough?
“[The Super Bowl] is more likely to win if you have that quarterback,” Adofo-Mensah said. “It’s very unlikely to get that quarterback.”
Active Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks include Brady, Mahomes, Matthew Stafford, Nick Foles, Russell Wilson, Joe Flacco and Aaron Rodgers. That’s seven, and only five of them are starters.
The problem for the Vikings is that if they had left Cousins, who would they have had? There wasn’t a glut of potential upgrades at the post. Wilson and Deshaun Watson. That’s about it, unless they were able to lure Brady to the state where his mother grew up.
So they hope it works out with Cousins. Maybe having an attacking-minded coach will make a difference. Either way, there’s a gap between Cousins and the best quarterbacks in the game. If Cousins ever wants to close that gap, now is the time.
And even with a little tough love from the GM, Cousins should find a more welcoming atmosphere in the locker room now that grumpy Mike Zimmer has left the organization.
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