Former NFL head coach Eric Mangini believes the Minnesota Vikings could be a fitting landing spot for Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Cousins, a four-time Pro Bowler, spent six seasons with the Vikings.
He signed with the Falcons in free agency in 2024 amid the Vikings’ plans to draft a quarterback, which ended up being J.J. McCarthy, only for the Falcons to select Michael Penix Jr. before that. With McCarthy an unknown commodity, Cousins could see an opportunity.
“I understand that they’re taking a risk [betting on McCarthy]. They really took the risk when they drafted him. And now, they’re going to try to give it some time here to see where he is. But this is a little bit deceptive. Because they can’t really trade for Kirk Cousins until after June 1st because the salary cap hit to Atlanta would be too great. But after June 1, it’s easy,” Mangini said on “First Things First” on April 15.
“Right now, the only other quarterback is Brett Rypien, on the roster right now. So I would imagine they’re going to go get a backup that they feel could win a bunch of games should something happen to J.J. McCarthy. So that backup probably is going to need to have some level of experience. So I would imagine that’s either Kirk Cousins or it’s Aaron Rodgers. And they’re going to let it go, play out through the spring, and then they’ll go find someone, a veteran that they can bring in.”
“If things go really south, they’ve got someone that can plug and play and actually win a bunch of games,” Mangini said.
The Vikings have all but ruled out signing Rodgers. And KTSP’s Darren Wolfson reported on April 15 that the Vikings were never truly in on Drew Lock (Seattle Seahawks) or Joe Flacco (Cleveland Browns) before both signed elsewhere in free agency this offseason.
