This offseason, quarterback Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings is confronting his football mortality.
Cousins, an upcoming free agent, may be signing his final NFL contract this offseason. He will turn 36 before the 2024 season begins. Cousins stressed before free agency that it’s not just about the money but also about “what the dollars represent.” As a quarterback who can compete in the Pro Bowl, he wants to be appreciated for his caliber of play.
A Super Bowl ring, on the other hand, is more respected than a paycheck.
Although the main topic of discussion has been whether Cousins would accept a club-friendly contract to remain in Minnesota, where he has only one postseason victory in the last six years, who’s to say he wouldn’t accept the same offer to join a team that is now designed to win?
The San Francisco 49ers have no squad that compares, and there is ample evidence of head coach Kyle Shanahan’s romance with Cousins.
Connor Orr of Sports Illustrated made some audacious predictions for the 2024 campaign, and he believes that Cousins may sign a two-year contract with the 49ers if Shanahan publicly acknowledged that he was willing to bench Brock Purdy in favor of Tom Brady.
Over the past two weeks, Kyle Shanahan has done a tremendously smart job of putting out one talking point: he believed that putting Brock Purdy on the sidelines and signing Tom Brady was an investment and a benefit for Purdy, Orr wrote on February 12.
Could he apply the same logic to his cousins, who are somewhat more notable despite their lack of success? Shanahan is looking for quick processors that don’t drop passes. His fondness for cousins is well-known. It makes sense to strengthen the quarterback room if the 49ers intend to run it back.
