Six years ago, the Vikings wanted quarterback Kirk Cousins. And so they went and got him.
Now, with Cousins less than a month away from free agency and just over a week before Tampering Central unfolds in Indianapolis at the Scouting Combine, the Vikings and Cousins are out of contract.
Eight days ago, Chris Simms and I interviewed both Cousins and Vikings receiver KJ Osborn at the Super Bowl Media Center. (The video is attached.) Based on what I learned during and after the conversation, I say the following. If the Vikings want to keep Cousins, they aren't going about it the right way.
Now there's a chance they don't want to keep him. There is a possibility that they want to give the impression that he has decided to leave. That it wasn't their decision not to pay $45 million a year (or thereabouts) to a quarterback who turns 36 in August and is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. If that is the strategy, they handle it perfectly.
But if they actually want it, the strategy seems to be that they want to see what others will pay before making their move. If that's the case, that's a very bad strategy.
Everyone wants to feel wanted and valued. From all appearances, cousins would like to stay. But if the Vikings don't do the things that would make him (and his family) feel wanted, giving them the opportunity might make Cousins (and his family) feel wanted elsewhere. to feel wanted elsewhere Financial offers are the same. It could also potentially lead to Cousins taking a little less time to go elsewhere, perhaps just to make a point.
Really, who would you like to work for? Someone who values you enough to take aggressive steps to get you, or someone who sighs and shrugs when forced to pay you more than expected because someone else values you more than your current one Employer?
We’ll leave the potential Cousins travel destinations for another post. For now, the question is whether the Vikings will use the waning days of their lead to keep him. If they really want to keep him, they have to make him an offer he won't refuse – ASAFP.