Kirk Cousins officially signs with Minnesota Vikings
By Tyler Haag
New Minnesota Vikings QB Kirk Cousins had his introductory press conference on Thursday. Can he live up to the lofty expectations a contract of that magnitude brings?
The Vikings made it official on Thursday, introducing Kirk Cousins as a member of the Minnesota Vikings in a press conference at the brand new TCO Performance Center in Eagan. Cousins held up his new number eight uniform and answered several questions from the assembled media.
Very well spoken and very comfortable on the microphone, it’s no wonder Cousins makes regular speaking appearances during the offseason. He said all the right things and came across very humble and approachable, exactly what you want your franchise QB to be.
He dodged the questions about money with ease and spoke more about leadership and faith than he did negotiations and contracts. Cousins has that upper midwestern humble charm and Minnesota fans are going to worship him like Puckett and Garnett, if this team can meet lofty expectations.
The Vikings are now moving into the very rare, Super Bowl-or-bust mentality and that infamous window that we hear the analysts talk about seems to now be wide open. There will be a considerable amount of pressure on Kirk Cousins to perform well and lead this team to wins because of the amount of his contract.
If nothing else, Cousins should bring some reliability. Since taking over at starter in 2015, he has not missed a single start. The Vikings on the other hand have been in injury limbo at QB for the past three seasons. Rick Spielman was presented with an opportunity to add a productive, consistently healthy, starting caliber QB and he paid what he needed to get that done.
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There may be differing opinions on whether or not the front office made the right choice at QB but there is no debating that the Vikings believe they have upgraded at the most important position in football and consider themselves to be serious Super Bowl contenders. As fans, all we can do is appreciate the fact that they are going all in.