Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O'Connell met reporters on Wednesday for a news conference that was ostensibly to recap the season they just finished. They spent much of their time fielding questions about the offseason that is to come.
The Vikings enter what might be the most pivotal offseason of the GM and coach's time together, with a long list of important decisions topped by the choice they'll face at quarterback. Kirk Cousins will be a free agent in two months, after six seasons in Minnesota and the torn right Achilles that ended the 35-year-old's strong 2023 season after eight games.
The Vikings could bring Cousins back on a new deal, select his successor with the 11th overall pick in the draft or begin 2024 with both Cousins and a first-round pick at QB. On Wednesday, Adofo-Mensah reiterated his interest in signing Cousins to a new deal.
"I have said it — I think I have been pretty consistent with that," Adofo-Mensah said. "Kirk, the player, is someone that we saw what he does to this team. I thought we were playing really good football before he got injured, and it is the most important position in sports. Ultimately, it always comes down to, can you find an agreement that works for both sides and all of those things? But as a player, it is certainly my intention to have him back here."
Cousins has said he wants to remain in Minnesota, and signaled some openness to at least discussing a deal that would give the Vikings a discount on what he might make as a free agent. "At this stage in my career, the dollars are really not what it's about," he said. "At this point, structure is probably more important."
The Vikings added two void years to Cousins' deal last spring, after talks broke off on a long-term extension. Multiple sources have said Cousins sought guarantees into 2025, while the Vikings were only willing to offer guaranteed money through 2024. The guarantee structure in a deal could again determine whether the Vikings and the quarterback can come to an agreement after his injury.
"I mean, there are a lot of factors that go into these things. It is age. It's injury, but it is also performance," Adofo-Mensah said. "How do you believe the performance will go? And there's different examples through time. Obviously, you have to also pay attention to the person and what he puts into his body and how regimented and detailed he is. All those factors go into it. At the end of the day, we are just taking risks, and we try to measure it as best we can and protect ourselves and ensure against it. On his side, he is trying to take less of it. That is his job and they should do that and we will try and find a place in the middle and see where we end up."
The moves the Vikings made last year, cutting popular veterans such as linebacker Eric Kendricks and wide receiver Adam Thielen, helped them regain some of their financial flexibility, Adofo-Mensah said. They are projected to have more than $35 million of cap space at the start of the league year, and could push that number close to $50 million through moves with veterans such as safety Harrison Smith and defensive end Dean Lowry.
