{"id":82524,"date":"2024-01-20T02:06:54","date_gmt":"2024-01-20T02:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=82524"},"modified":"2024-01-20T02:06:54","modified_gmt":"2024-01-20T02:06:54","slug":"kirk-cousins-puts-vikings-on-notice-with-latest-comments-about-bill-belichick-kieu-linh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/kirk-cousins-puts-vikings-on-notice-with-latest-comments-about-bill-belichick-kieu-linh\/","title":{"rendered":"Kirk Cousins Puts Vikings on Notice With Latest Comments About Bill Belichick"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Minnesota Vikings\u00a0general manager\u00a0Kwesi Adofo-Mensah\u00a0and quarterback\u00a0Kirk Cousins\u00a0have both expressed an interest in the latter\u2019s return to the team next season. Cousins hits free agency as one of the premier options, and arguably the top option for quarterback-needy teams.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1444336745-e1705687796651.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Bill Belichick, Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But Cousins is leaving his options open.<\/p>\n<p>He entertained the idea of playing for Head Coach\u00a0Bill Belichick who is also a free agent this offseason. Asked directly about his willingness, Cousins was bluntly honest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not gonna turn down an opportunity to play with a future Hall of Fame coach,\u201d Cousins said via CBS Sports\u2019 Isabel Gonzalez on January 18. \u201cBut we\u2019ll have to see where March leads. It\u2019s just a lot of unknowns right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I talked to Kirk Cousins this week and he shared his thoughts on Bill Belichick:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026 you know he is usually going to break the mold and do something different, and that&#39;s probably what has made him a great coach.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>I asked Cousins if he would ever play for Belichick\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HRNBpfHEKn\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/HRNBpfHEKn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Isabel Gonzalez (@cisabelg) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cisabelg\/status\/1748127883040612842?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">January 18, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Again, Adofo-Mensah has said he intends to bring Cousins back next season. And the 35-year-old passer is on the books for more than $28 million next season anyway,\u00a0per Spotrac.<\/p>\n<p>Cousins has also\u00a0spoken optimistically about returning even after his torn Achilles this season.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Vikings are facing a salary cap crunch. They have less than $30 million in cap space next season without making any moves.\u00a0 They have several other holes to fill, though. And Adofo-Mensah has also spoken about being open to taking a step back.<\/p>\n<p>A change at quarterback could be their most prudent path forward if Adofo-Mensah doesn\u2019t believe the roster will be close enough to contend with Cousins.<\/p>\n<h2>Vikings Free Agent Kirk Cousins Praises Bill Belichick<\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4681285 visible aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1918030004-e1705688222273.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Bill Belichick, Minnesota Vikings\" width=\"780\" height=\"437\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4681285\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1918030004-e1705688222273.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" \/><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_4681285\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n<p>\u201cGreat respect for him as a coach, like everyone else in pro football,\u201d Cousins said of Belichick. \u201cIf you win that many Super Bowls \u2013 go to that many Super Bowls, win that many Conference Championship games, have the defensive production that he\u2019s had for years and years \u2013 it says it all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Belichick is the all-time leader in Super Bowls and Conference Championship games and ranks third in wins,\u00a0per Pro Football Reference.<\/p>\n<p>He hits the coaching market after 24 years with the\u00a0New England Patriots.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u00a0played them last year\u00a0on Thanksgiving night. And once again, I noticed several times what he did coverage-wise was challenging, and it was different.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"AdThrive_Content_4_desktop\" class=\"adthrive-ad adthrive-content adthrive-content-4 adthrive-ad-cls\" data-google-query-id=\"CPj167Tw6oMDFbRDwgUdG5MOGA\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cYou always know when you play him that you\u2019re kinda looking over your shoulder wondering if what you\u2019re seeing is correct. Because he usually is going to break the mold and do something different, and that\u2019s part of what has made him a great coach.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Could Kirk Cousins Join Bill Belichick on NFC Rival?<\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4681277 visible aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1687224140-e1705687717711.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Arthur Blank, Minnesota Vikings\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4681277\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1687224140-e1705687717711.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" \/><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_4681277\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n<p>Cousins\u2019 affinity for Belichick would be enough. But Cousins also shares multiple\u00a0potential landing spots\u00a0with the head coach.<\/p>\n<p>Among them are the\u00a0Washington Commanders, who have already overhauled their front office. But the ties to the\u00a0Atlanta Falcons\u00a0are even stronger for both Belichick and Cousins, whose wife is from the city.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSources: Former #Patriots coach Bill Belichick will have a second interview with the #Falcons brass this weekend after meeting with owner\u00a0Arthur Blank\u00a01-on-1 this past week,\u201d\u00a0NFL Network\u2019s Ian Rapoport reported\u00a0in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on January 18. \u201cThings are ramping up with the greatest coach of all time\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Vikings\u2019 offseason is certainly one to watch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Minnesota Vikings\u00a0general manager\u00a0Kwesi Adofo-Mensah\u00a0and quarterback\u00a0Kirk Cousins\u00a0have both expressed an interest in the latter\u2019s return to the team next season. Cousins hits free agency as one of the&#8230; <\/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-82524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82524","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=82524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82524\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}