Kirk Cousins and Kyle Shanahan have been closely linked since it became known that the 49ers coach intended to hire Cousins during the off-season of 2018, when the defender arrived at the free agency. A mid-season switch to Jimmy Garoppolo and his five consecutive wins to end that year for San Francisco affected those plans. Cousins joined the Vikings on a lucrative and fully guaranteed contract, and Garoppolo secured a five-year contract with the 49ers.
The speculation of Cousins-Shanahan reunion has been rampant ever since, and has surfaced again before this year’s Super Bowl with 49ers potentially looking to update under the center. ESPN’s Adam Schefter told Guy Haberman and John Middlekauff on the ‘Haberman and Middlekauff’ podcast, despite internet rumors, he had not heard of any interest from 49ers in Cousins.
“Yes, there was a conversation about Kirk Cousins,” said Schefter. “And I think something can happen, but I haven’t heard that that is the case, so I don’t know where it’s coming from.”
The question of whether Cousins offers the kind of update San Francisco is looking for under the center is debatable. Their numbers are better, but it is certainly worth questioning whether any draft capital or player that 49ers would have to offload to acquire it would be worth it.
However, an agreement between Minnesota and San Francisco doesn’t even have to go that far. It just wouldn’t make much sense on either side.
For the Vikings, they had a productive performance by Cousins. He was good last year and it was certainly not the reason they failed to make it into the postseason. To pass it would probably be a step backwards. Not to mention that trading it before June 1 would result in $ 20 million in dead money in 2021 and another $ 10 million in dead money the following year. That’s a lot of dead money to carry for a player who’s probably not willing to trade.
Even a post-June 1 deal would not be cheap for Minnesota. They would carry $ 10 million in dead cap in each of the next two seasons, according to Over the Cap.
This brings us to the 49ers, who gave up on Matthew Stafford’s negotiations even before making an official offer because the price had inflated for a first round choice by the time Lions returned to them according to a report by Albert Breer in Sports Illustrated.
Suppose the Vikings want to move Cousins because they think a choice in the first round would be worth the dead money. More than likely, San Francisco would not be willing to put choice number 12 on the table for him any more than they did for Stafford. And even if they were, their limit reached in 2022 is expected to rise to more than $ 30 million. This is a high price to pay for what may be just a marginal upgrade.
Rumors about the 49ers’ interest in Cousins have always been vague, and given the full picture of Schefter’s comments, it is hard to imagine that any substantial conversation has taken place or will take place between San Francisco and Minnesota.