Kirk Cousins and Kyle Shanahan have been inextricably linked since the launch of the 49ers’ head coach, who was aiming to sign Cousins during the 2018 offseason, when the quarterback hit the free agency. A half-time trade for Jimmy Garoppolo and his five consecutive wins to end that year for San Francisco has put a wrench in these plans. Cousins joined the Vikings on a lucrative, fully guaranteed contract, and Garoppolo got a five-year deal from the 49ers.
The Cousins-Shanahan reunion speculation has been booming ever since, and it came up again before the Super Bowl this year, with the 49ers possibly wanting to upgrade below central. ESPN’s Adam Schefter told Guy Haberman and John Middlekauff on the ‘Haberman and Middlekauff’ podcast despite internet rumors, he has not yet heard of 49ers’ interest in Cousins.
“Yes, there was this Kirk Cousins conversation,” Schefter said. “And I think something could happen, but I have not heard that is the case, so I do not know where it came from.”
The question of whether Cousins offers the type of upgrade that San Francisco is looking for under downtown is questionable. His numbers are better, but it’s definitely worth asking if it’s worth the draft capital or the player the 49ers will have to download to acquire him.
However, an agreement between Minnesota and San Francisco does not even have to go that far. It would not make much sense from any side.
For the Vikings, they got a productive game from Cousins. He was good last year and certainly not the reason why they could not make it to the post-season. Moving away from him would probably be a clear step back. Not to mention dealing with him before June 1, there would be $ 20 million in dead money in 2021, and another $ 10 million in dead money next year. This is a lot of dead money to carry for a player they probably would not like to trade.
Even an agreement after June 1 will not be cheap for Minnesota. According to Over the Cap, they will carry $ 10 million in dead caps each of the next two seasons.
That brings us to the 49ers, who withdrew from the Matthew Stafford negotiations before even making an official offer, as the price rose to a first round by the time the Lions return to them, according to a report by Albert Breer in Sports. Illustrated.
Assume that the Vikings Cousins want to move because they feel that a choice in the first round is worth the dead money. San Francisco will probably not be willing to put their number 12 on the table for him in the same way they were not prepared for Stafford. And even if it was, his cap in 2022 is due to a balloon of more than $ 30 million. It’s a great price to pay for a marginal upgrade.
Rumors of the 49ers’ interest in Cousins have always been sketchy, and given the full picture above Schefter’s comments, it’s hard to imagine any material talks taking place between San Francisco and Minnesota.