Doing these #92Noon radio shows from the NFL Combine is great. I love seeing my cohorts from other teams, having sneaky chats about free agents and rookies and the buzz of radio row adjacent to Lucas Oil Stadium. So much on which to hit. There's the health of QB Andrew Luck, the Le'Veon Bell contract situation and that the Seahawks actually may move on sans CB Richard Sherman.
Our show, of course, morphs into big-time Vikings chat, and today's confab was meaty. When Vikings coach Mike Zimmer joined he reminded us the team has won 40 games during his four years here -- and the division twice -- by emphasizing "team," which indicates to me overpaying to get QB Kirk Cousins here is not in the plan.
Hey, I'm on board with Cousins as our QB next season but really don't want the team to pay like $30 million a year over four or five years. Seriously. The Indy buzz regarding Kirk is the Jets will spend whatever it takes to get him, so if he opts to go to that bad team seems like a money-grab to me. I'm not against getting the most you can get when the opportunity presents itself, but if Cousins wants a legit chance to get to the Super Bowl he'll sign here assuming the team is interested.
We need more than Kirk Cousins via free agency, by the way. Were it me I'd draft OL and three-technique DT and chase Philly TE Trey Burton and Rams DB Lamarcus Joyner in free agency. A tandem of Cousins and either one of those guys is a win for me.
The importance of "team" as Zimmer puts it. The personnel and money people with the Vikings know exactly what it means to give a player a massive, long-term deal in terms of what the losses may be down the road. Jamming Kirk with a massive deal may mean Diggs or somebody won't be around here much longer.
This situation is as perplexing as I have seen in a long time working with the Minnesota Vikings. Case Keenum won 13 games last season. Why not Case? My football-loving heart tells me Cousins is better than Keenum, but we have proven we can win a bunch of games with Case, and he's be cheaper.
Getting Cousins indoors and with a team that plays defense the way the Vikings do is very compelling to me. Kirk reads the field very well and has good arm talent.
Cousins seems to be the right answer but at what cost?
Dart meet board.