{"id":104094,"date":"2024-03-13T03:38:43","date_gmt":"2024-03-13T03:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=104094"},"modified":"2024-03-13T03:45:41","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T03:45:41","slug":"vikings-gm-breaks-silence-on-cutting-ties-with-kirk-cousins-kieu-linh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/vikings-gm-breaks-silence-on-cutting-ties-with-kirk-cousins-kieu-linh\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings GM Breaks Silence on Cutting Ties With Kirk Cousins"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0made the difficult decision to move on from\u00a0Kirk Cousins\u00a0after six years this week, and general manager\u00a0Kwesi Adofo-Mensah\u00a0is adamant that the franchise is building toward a championship.<\/p>\n

\"Vikings<\/p>\n

Following the announcement that Cousins agreed to terms on a\u00a0four-year, $190 million deal\u00a0with the Atlanta Falcons on March 11, the Vikings\u00a0released a statement\u00a0from Adofo-Mensah, who said the organization was prepared to move off of Cousins.<\/p>\n

From the Vikings:<\/p>\n

After significant and positive dialogue with Kirk and his representatives, we were unable to reach agreement on a contract that fits the short and long-term visions for both Kirk and the Minnesota Vikings. Kirk holds a special place in Vikings history, and we appreciate his leadership and contributions to the team and the Minneapolis-St. Paul community over the past six seasons. We wish him, his wife, Julie, and their children all the best.<\/p>\n

Our approach heading into free agency always included layers of contingencies regarding the quarterback position. We are moving forward with plans that allow us to continue building a roster that can compete for a championship.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sam Darnold is a Piece of the Vikings\u2019 Plan to Replace Kirk Cousins<\/h2>\n

\"Sam<\/h2>\n
\n

The Vikings agreed to terms with veteran quarterback Sam Darnold Tuesday morning, March 11, on a one-year, $10 million contract,\u00a0NFL Network\u2019s Ian Rapoport reported.<\/p>\n

The plan to land Darnold could have been hatched since the Vikings\u00a0hired his former teammate\u00a0and mentor\u00a0Josh McCown\u00a0as their quarterbacks coach in February.<\/p>\n

Sure, if Darnold overcomes his history and turns in a Pro Bowl-caliber season, the Vikings could consider him a long-term solution at quarterback \u2014 but his one-year deal suggests otherwise.<\/p>\n

Darnold realistically fulfills a short-term need for a quarterback with starting experience in Minnesota, bigger plans are at play.<\/p>\n

The Vikings\u2019 sights have been on the 2024 quarterback draft class dating back to the 2022 scouting season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were thinking about\u00a0Caleb Williams\u00a0and\u00a0Drake Maye\u00a0even at this point last year. There\u2019s been a lot of work done in this building through the course of the fall on these rookie QBs,\u201d The Star Tribune\u2019s Ben Goessling said on a December 28 episode of the\u00a0\u201cAccess Vikings\u201d\u00a0podcast. \u201cIf they were to say, \u2018We have to be in the top five to get one of these guys, or the top two or three to get one of these guys, I don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to let that hold them back.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

Now that the Vikings have parted ways with Cousins, there\u2019s a clear intention that they plan to land a blue-chip rookie quarterback and could make a massive move in the draft to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really think,\u00a0 based on the way they operated last year and the things I\u2019ve heard,\u00a0 if they see there is an opportunity to get the guy of the next 20 years, they are not going to let something stop them from doing it,\u201d Goessling added. \u201cI really believe, based on how they think about this position and some of the things I\u2019ve heard about the ways they may approach this draft, I just don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to be pennywise and tomfoolish. They\u2019re not going to be spendthrift about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vikings Free Agency Roundup: MIN Lands Aaron Jones, Fortifies Defense<\/h2>\n

\"Aaron<\/h2>\n
\n

Although the Vikings will have to bite the bullet and\u00a0eat over $50 million in deap cap\u00a0from failing to extend Danielle Hunter, Marcus Davenport and Cousins, that didn\u2019t stop the organization from spending in free agency.<\/p>\n

The Vikings agreed to terms on a one-year, $7 million deal with former\u00a0Green Bay Packers\u00a0Pro Bowl running back\u00a0Aaron Jones\u00a0on March 12. Jones was released after he refused to take over a 50% pay cut,\u00a0according to The Athletic.<\/p>\n

On defense, Brian Flores will be thrilled with his new trio of linebackers once their deals are finalized on or after March 13.<\/p>\n

The Vikings agreed to terms with outside linebackers\u00a0Jonathan Greenard\u00a0and\u00a0Andrew Van Ginkel\u00a0and homegrown inside linebacker\u00a0Blake Cashman\u00a0of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. These contracts will likely have a soft cap hit for the 2024 season.<\/p>\n

There are still plenty of holes to fill in the roster including guard, defensive interior line and cornerback, but the Vikings do that through the draft.<\/p>\n

The roster may not be Super Bowl-ready in 2024, but free agency was a strong start toward building a better team, and the 2025 offseason should see the Vikings, who have the\u00a0fourth-most available effective cap space, chase several premier free agents after years of budget free-agent adds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0made the difficult decision to move on from\u00a0Kirk Cousins\u00a0after six years this week, and general manager\u00a0Kwesi Adofo-Mensah\u00a0is adamant that the franchise is building toward a championship…. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104094\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}