Cousins in the Bank

He deserves a round of applause IMO.

Boos would be stupidity, just as the "hate" his way always was. Yeah, he was a QB in his prime that got paid...but also had pure s**t for central IOL protection the majority of the time, and even the Atlanta contract's value is behind all of the "wonder kids" like Burrow, Dak, etc...so, the constant fixation on it seems truly "challenged" to me.

We had a coach that didn't want him for his first several years, and while he had throws he would want back...name me a QB that doesn't. Mahomes? Allen? Herbert? Burrow? All have brutal games, and Goff just had a 5-pick performance that his defense saved him from.

Cousins went where he expected a few more starting years, the Vikings wanted to get younger and cheaper...both got what they wanted. It obviously worked out much better for us.

I don’t think he should be boo’d. I honestly think he gave the Vikings all he had. Sometimes it just wasn’t good enough. He gets in his own head and makes mistakes. I think it bothers fans that he didn’t show a lot of emotion (except maybe when he grabbed Zimmer) for losses or wins.
In his defense, KOC was the first time he’d had a OC that used him like he should have been used, and lasted more than a year or so. His IOL sucked ass. He is what he is. He doesn’t scramble much and people see other QBs that do and wanted him to be that guy. He wasn’t.
I liked Kirk, I am glad they moved on.

Side note: I was at the New Orleans/Vikings game when Tommy Kramer returned to Minnesota as a Saint. The fans clapped and gave him a Standing Ovation. That’s how it should be, remember the good things they’ve done for you.

He should get applause imo....But they'll be a smattering of both.

Riphawkins wrote:
I don’t think he should be boo’d. I honestly think he gave the Vikings all he had. Sometimes it just wasn’t good enough. He gets in his own head and makes mistakes. I think it bothers fans that he didn’t show a lot of emotion (except maybe when he grabbed Zimmer) for losses or wins. In his defense, KOC was the first time he’d had a OC that used him like he should have been used, and lasted more than a year or so. His IOL sucked ass. He is what he is. He doesn’t scramble much and people see other QBs that do and wanted him to be that guy. He wasn’t. I liked Kirk, I am glad they moved on.

Side note: I was at the New Orleans/Vikings game when Tommy Kramer returned to Minnesota as a Saint. The fans clapped and gave him a Standing Ovation. That’s how it should be, remember the good things they’ve done for you.

Agree, but Kramer was a Vikings draft pick who played over 10 years in Minnesota. He was one of ours. 

Right or wrong, I think a lot of Viking fans see Cousins as an outsider who came in, took all our money and just didn't get it done. Just judging by what I've read on Vikings Twitter the last few years, about 60% think Cousins was a good QB who did a good job for us, and did some good in the community. And then about 40% who just hate the man for the reasons mentioned above. Guessing the crowd reaction will probably reflect that.

Long as we're discussing Kirko...
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The narrative of Sam Darnold vs. Kirk Cousins will be done and then overdone this week leading to Sunday’s game between the Vikings and Falcons, so let me be early and brief with it:

The thing that was obvious about Darnold from Week 1 with the Vikings is that he has a huge arm and makes more “wow” throws than Cousins. That figured to translate into more risk-reward than the Vikings were used to over the past six seasons with Cousins as Darnold trusted his strong arm to wedge balls into tight and sometimes contested spaces.

And indeed, there were those among us who worried that Darnold might be crashing after the Vikings barely survived his three-interception game a few weeks ago against Jacksonville.

What is less obvious because it is not baked into the narrative of both players, though, is this: Cousins has actually been the far riskier passer this year without the rewards.

It is Cousins who leads the NFL in both interceptions (13) and fumbles (12) heading into this matchup, while Darnold has eight fewer combined (10 picks, seven fumbles).
Four of those Cousins interceptions came last week in a performance so bad that some questioned his job status before coach Raheem Morris reaffirmed that he will start against his former team. Darnold, meanwhile, was interception-free for his third straight game, a span during which he has thrown six touchdown passes.

Pro Football Focus credits Darnold with 25 “big-time throws,” third in the league, while Cousins has just 10. They tag Cousins with a league-high 21 “turnover-worthy plays,” while Darnold has 18 (tied for second-most, but still three fewer than Cousins). Not surprisingly as a result, PFF grades Darnold as the NFL’s ninth-best QB this year; Cousins is No. 30, one spot ahead of new Vikings practice squad QB Daniel Jones.

Some of this could be determined by the play styles of the offenses they are now running, and certainly Darnold has been fortunate at times not to have been intercepted.

But if the idea this year is that the Vikings were trading a play-it-safe QB for a riskier one, the result has been being far more explosive while having a QB turning it over less than his predecessor is this year.

Whether that continues Sunday is another matter, and it is a significant one for the Vikings. They are 10-2 and will know before kickoff what is at stake.

The Lions (11-1) play host to the Packers (9-3) on Thursday Night Football. A Green Bay upset would give the Vikings a chance to pull even with Detroit with a massive regular-season finale looming. A Lions victory would put pressure on the Vikings to keep pace but also would essentially eliminate the Packers from the division race.

Source: Startribune

Write whatever narrative you want, I just want the Dub

It'll be a mixed reaction because his legacy is mixed. He was a hired gun who came in and didn't get it done. He also was very good and become "one of us". I'd clap for him but I'm sure I'd laugh at what the hecklers will be yelling too.

File this under: when pigs fly, but it'd be funny if Kirk pulled a Jeudy and eggs on the crowd a bit.

I think Kirko Chainz deserves applause when he comes to US Bank stadium. We have much to be thankful for, with him moving on.
We have far more cap space and flexibility next year, we have more wins (I suspect, although my crystal ball is pretty cloudy, I do believe we would not be 10-2 with him). I posted it on a previous thread. THANK YOU KIRK FOR TAKING THE MONEY AND LEAVING.

Fortunately this is not NY or PA, Viking fans are pretty classy, I think it will a very warm and positive ovation. Kirk is a nice guy, he did a lot of great things here. No one really knows what happened in the negotiations, personally I think the Vikes really wanted to move on, but it doesn't matter, he was a Viking for 6 years and a positive presence in the community, I think he will be recognized for that.

MaroonBells wrote:
Will the Vikings boo Kirk? I kinda have a feeling they will. How quickly we forget Kirko Chainz and the shirtless gjallarhorn thing. 

would be WILD if we booed him. lol

guy was the personification of kindness for six seasons in Minnesota

he ain't sean payton https://t.co/6JoaDarchN

— Dustin Baker (@DustBaker) December 4, 2024

I'll be at the game, and he'll get a nice round of applause from me at the beginning. But once the game starts, all bets are off.

I think he deserves a standing ovation!

There's zero to boo Kirk Cousins about. He was a really good player in Minnesota, upstanding citizen in the community, and we should be thankful he jumped ship at the right time for the Vikings.

We should definitely applaud him for all the reasons stated. He gave it all he got, he had to deal with Zimmer who didn’t like him, and he was a good guy. I’m excited about our future and which him the best- just not this Sunday.

Booooooooo…!  :cool: :angel:

Kirk Cousins returns to Minnesota the same quarterback in a new stage of his career

The Vikings play their former quarterback on Sunday, a game he is framing as a “moment of gratitude.”

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The refrains are familiar: Coaches praise his thoroughness and the honesty with which he owns mistakes. Teammates recall how quickly he worked the lunchroom to make connections, and how precisely he tutored them on the way he wanted routes run and protections blocked.

No quarterback, especially not one drafted 102nd overall, lasts 13 years in the NFL without starting over in one way or another. Kirk Cousins, you’ll likely not be shocked to learn, has a process for it.

By the time they reach Cousins’ age, quarterbacks who’ve lasted this long in the NFL generally fall into one of two camps. There are the franchise cornerstones, who’ve played a decade or more with one team and have put their names on trophies. And then there are the journeymen, existing for a year at a time as backups who could run the offense if necessary.

Cousins occupies a kind of third category: the private contractor. He has made nearly $300 million in his NFL career, having earned at least $19 million each of his last nine seasons while playing for three teams. He is 948 yards away from joining Carson Palmer as the only NFL quarterbacks to post 4,000-yard seasons for three different teams.
There is a particular demand for his services, often at an estimable price, among teams that view themselves as a quarterback upgrade away from contention. While he doesn’t stay a decade with one team, he earns multiyear deals, often laden with guarantees from clubs willing to pay for a professional effort at the position, which Cousins delivers through an approach that is transferable, repeatable and deliberate.

Cousins maintains plenty of friendships in the Vikings organization, and there was plenty of cordiality before the game this week. Vikings players praised their former quarterback, with Harrison Phillips saying Thursday he hopes fans will welcome Cousins in “an appropriate way” when his name is announced. But the Brian Flores defense that flustered Cousins in practices last year has only grown more intricate, and Cousins’ reduced mobility after last year’s Achilles tear could leave him in a precarious position against a team that blitzes more than any in the NFL.

“A year and a half ago, it’s like an eternity in football,” Cousins said Wednesday. “So I think the way they’ve changed their personnel, the way they’ve evolved … you can’t draw as much as you’d like. But I have a lot of respect for Coach Flores, for that group and the guys on that team. Their record is what it is for a reason. They’ve earned it, and they’ve been a challenge for people.”

Cousins framed the reunion this weekend as a moment for gratitude, telling Atlanta reporters the now-familiar story about his neighbor Jon Weber, who used to clear snow from his Inver Grove Heights driveway, and joking about his ongoing friendship with Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, who continues to be in touch with Cousins.

“I have friends in the league on other teams. I don’t know if friendships are allowed in it or not,” he said with a laugh, referencing the NFL’s tampering investigation into the Falcons’ recruitment of Cousins this spring. “But yes, I do try to keep in touch with a lot of people there, and Kevin is certainly one of them.”

His compatriots in the Falcons’ quarterback room, though, didn’t try to downplay what the game means to Cousins.

“He’s very aware of what went on in the game, what he needs to fix, and it’s an immediate mindset change of how we’re going to attack the next week,” quarterbacks coach T.J. Yates said. “And, obviously everybody knows this one is special to him.”

Departing from Minnesota was emotional for his family; his wife planned to fly to the Twin Cities before the game to catch up with friends and revisit some favorite spots. The Cousins family has moved into a home near the Falcons’ facility, and the quarterback’s sons, Cooper and Turner, are thriving in school. But the return to Minnesota will trigger plenty of nostalgia.

“It’s certainly unique,” he said. “It’s not like everywhere you play on the road, you spent six years there. You have memories come back to you, but that’s part of the deal. For so many players in this league, we’ve all been on other teams. It’s rare to play double-digit years with one team. So for many of us, it’s kind of the way of life.”
It has been for Cousins, the Pro Bowl QB for hire. It might continue to be, depending on how quickly the Falcons move to Penix.

By now, he’s used to it.

Every time he goes to a news conference to speak to reporters, he said, “It’s always kind of a, ‘Well, I guess I beat the odds there.’ At some point, they’ll tell you, ‘Hey, you’re not going to get another chance. Your time is up in this league.’ Until then, keep trying to pick myself up off the mat and get back to work.”

Startribune

He will never win a championship. but he will walk away very happy!
Flores needs to find a way to get consistent pressure. Kirk can't move.
This should be the easiest game the Vikings have had in awhile. I will say 30-17!

Kirk Cousins is back in Minnesota! 🏈 pic.twitter.com/UmKeSucVOO

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 8, 2024

Ha! Yep. 

Kirk “Kirko” Cousins is back in the bank.

It’s like seeing an ex-girlfriend, but you want them to see who you’re with now.

The Vikings favored by a touchdown today against Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/2V3gEpG4yp

— Alec Ausmus (@A_TwiceKSTP) December 8, 2024

StickierBuns wrote:

Kirk is not a bad dude...at all. I'm sure its very melancholy for him. But I want to see him go down today. In a fiery ball of failure. Its the Vikings for me and the rest can pound sand.

MaroonBells wrote:
Ha! Yep. 

Would not shock me (in the least) if we end-up playing them again Rd 1 of the playoffs - at their house.