Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell looks on against the Green Bay Packers.
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.
Kirk Cousins Could Take Advantage of Vikings’ Need
GettyMinnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell talks with Kirk Cousins #18 of the Atlanta Falcons.
The Vikings did offer both Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones contracts, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer on April 14, so their need is clear.
Cousins’ potential interest in returning to Minnesota is less so.
“Well, Kirk is a little bit interesting. Because when he left, he left because the money wasn’t right. But everything that I’ve read is that the relationship with the organization was great. The relationship with the city was great, the relationship with the coaches great. He might be of the mindset of, ‘This gives me my best chance to be successful.’” Mangini said.
“He may come in saying, ‘Yeah, I don’t want to start.’ Whereas internally, yeah, he feels like he can beat out J.J. McCarthy if he goes back. And if he doesn’t, he’s in an environment that’s great, and his money is guaranteed anyways.”
Cousins completed 66.9% of his throws for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions, and he went 7-7 at QB1 before the Falcons benched him.
McCarthy missed the regular season with a knee injury, which required two surgeries to address.
He has declared himself fully healthy, though. Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell has also commended the QB for working hard off the field during rehab.
Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said the team plans to sign a veteran QB. Rypien, 28, is 2-2 as a starter with 168 passes in his career. Whether that leads the Vikings and Cousins back to one another is unclear.
Falcons Potentially Open to ‘Buying’ Draft Pick With Kirk Cousins Trade
GettyMinnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah speaks to the media during the NFL Scouting Combine.
Cousins, 36, signed a four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons in free agency. The Falcons decided to keep him this offseason despite the cost. A new team would take on two years and $90 million in a trade for Cousins, per Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti in March.
Of that, $10 million would be guaranteed immediately, with another $10 million locking in in March 2026.
“The #Falcons are opting to keep Kirk Cousins at $37.5M cash, with $75M of cap baked in, as both a QB2 & a potential trade chip,” Ginnitti said in another post on X in March. “ATL is likely willing to eat a large portion of cash owed if it means buying a notable draft pick at some point this calendar year.”
The Vikings defense makes offenses & QBs be on the top of their games. Even with a well thought out protection like this from the Falcons, there’s still a free runner because a DB adds-on as a blitzer when the RB blocks. Cousins executes with a nice aggressive throw.
Over The Cap projects the Vikings have $17.2 million in space to work with after an expensive free agency period.
With a league-low four selections in the 2025 draft, the Vikings may resist trading from that pool.
They are also only guaranteed five picks in 2026 thanks to some of their previous dealings, namely trading for Cam Robinson from the Jacksonville Jaguars during the 2024 season and Jordan Mason from the San Francisco 49ers this offseason.
Josh Buckhalter covers the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com. He has covered both leagues since 2016, including bylines at FanSided, Last Word on Sports and Clocker Sports. He's based in Villa Park, Illinois. Follow Josh on Twitter and Instagram: @JoshGBuck More about Josh Buckhalter
