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With a guaranteed salary of $ 35 million, quarterback Kirk Cousins is expected to remain Viking in 2022.
But Minnesota has a new regime with general manager Kvesi Adofo-Mensa and head coach Kevin O’Connell, who did not sign with Cousins - although O’Connell worked with the quarterback with Washington. The club reportedly received a call from Panthers about the availability of Cousins.
At the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday, Adofo-Mensah noted that he had a particularly positive first impression of Cousins since entering the franchise in January.
“He is incredibly consistent pitcher“Said Adofo-Mensa. “I don’t think people realize that essentially every play has some result embedded in it based on factors he can’t control. And I think what you know about Kirk is that when the odds shift in his favor, he gets the most out of it. And I don’t think people appreciate that skill enough. But he is an incredibly consistent, incredibly accurate thrower. He is strong, he is resilient. He plays every game. He stands there and takes those punches when those throws are a little harder to achieve. He is an amazing player.
“He is brainwashed. It was one of the first phone calls I made. And one of the funny things I like about this job is that you come with prejudice about NFL players. And then you get here and they’re so different – they’re all so talented. I write to all my friends on Wall Street all the time, as if they would take our jobs, just to be clear. So Kirk is no different. Just incredibly talented, smart, detailed – the level of detail in the things we talked about was just amazing. I will not share this with you guys. But he’s an amazing person and I’m excited to work with him. “
But Adofo-Mensa later added that “everything is in play”, although he said he expects Cousins to play well for Minnesota in 2022.
Cousins was a professional bowler for the second time in four seasons in 2021. In 16 games – he missed one while on the COVID-19 roster – Cousins completed 66.3 percent of his passes to 4,221 yards with 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions.