Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Everything we learned about Kirk Cousins in Netflix's 'Quarterback'

Episode Date: July 16, 2023

Matthew Coller and Joe Nelson of Bring Me The News talk about the Netflix documentary 'Quarterback' and how Kirk Cousins came across, the new appreciation fans have for his toughness and work ethic and what it means for his future. Plus why Kevin O'Connell was the second biggest winner of the doc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🎵 Welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here along with Joe Nelson, my friend from BringMeTheNews.com. And the reason that you are here, Joe, is because both of us have been watching the netflix series quarterback and i actually just got off the phone with a bunch of vikings fans who i asked on twitter to reach out to me and tell me what they thought of it because everybody's watching everybody's talking about it's kind of like the like the jordan doc during the covet year where there was literally nothing else going on so everyone all watched the same thing and a real range of opinions that we'll get into and talk about this thing. But I'd love to just start out with your takeaway.

And the reason I wanted you on the show is because you guys have been writing about it and bringing me the news. I know that you and Jonathan Harrison have been watching it and going over it with a fine-tooth comb for anything that you can make into a headline. We woke up at 2 o'clock in the morning Wednesday when it dropped on Netflix. So midnight Pacific time, right? So we got up and we were like, we got to get the jump on this. We need to get the stories because you need to get the clicks. And if you're first, you win. That's the media jackal lifestyle, right?

So two o'clock in the morning, we hop out of bed and we are alternating episodes. He watches episode one i go two he goes three i go four you know so on and so forth until we consumed all eight episodes in like a three and a half hour four hour block and we're taking notes and writing trying to craft some some silly story out of this whole thing but yeah we we got a heavy dose of it, and it was very hard-knocksy, but the focus was just on three players and their families. So it wasn't as scattered. What I think is really intriguing about it is that you're getting the inside look at three premier players.

Well, two premier players and one former Heisman winner, which is pretty good. I think Mariota won the Heisman, didn't he? He was really good at football in college and not so much in the NFL. But let's just talk about kind of the overarching thoughts, and then we can dive into some specifics from the show. For me, I think that covering the league, I'm not surprised by anything that was shown there, but it's nothing that even reporters would get to see it actually happening. And what I mean is especially the rehab that Kirk Cousins goes through, you know, all that it takes. I mean, this is one thing that every player will talk about when they get into the NFL is how much

more physical rehab they have to do, how much work away from the facility that they have to do, the dedication to even understand the playbook and all those things. And I think what this did a tremendous job of specifically with Kirk is just sort of pulling back the curtains and saying, everything that this guy does to get on the field is right here. Take a look at it. How insane is this? And so you have the immediate reaction of like, wow. I mean, even knowing generally what it took from my perspective, being able to actually see it, you understand. I think one of the things I came away with Joe is you understand why some quarterbacks, actually a lot of quarterbacks don't work out in the NFL because the price to pay poker is that like, that is what it takes to

get on the field as an NFL player. That's the pain that you have to go through that's the physical rehab that's the amount of hours that you have to put into it and it becomes an entire thing for your family like an all-consuming part of your family to even be an NFL quarterback so I think that that was maybe like at the top of the list of the sort of wow factor of the show yeah that, that's a really good point. The family dynamic I thought was really interesting because I've seen a lot of Minnesota fans all of a sudden kind of just patting Kirk on the back for how dedicated he is to dad life, that Midwestern dad vibe. And, you know, once the game's over, the pads are off, or even when the pads are on in some of the instances in the show, you know, hey, hey, hey, Cooper here.

Hey, is it Turner and Cooper? Is that what they are? No, that's Cooper. And I can't remember his kids' names. But hey, Cooper, you know, let's let's get a chicken nugget, you know, five strawberries, good moderation, you know, that stuff was really cool. But then they looked at Patrick Mahomes and how how much flair and how boisterous he was both on and off the field, yelling at the dogs and everything.

He's just a more intense human than Kirk is. So the Minnesota fans are like, oh, wow, I really like this, this Kirk vibe. It's really appealing to me because we love that here in Minnesota. And then we're kind of put off by the Patrick Mahomes cocky vibe, right? But the difference is Kirk's 34 going on 35. He's got two kids and a wife, and he's been there and done that a decade longer almost than Patrick Mahomes has. So you got to see both sides on and off the field. I was just really surprised about literally everything. I had no idea that Kirk was hooking

up electrodes to his head and watching something in his car after a long day at TCO Performance Center and trying to determine if he was focused or not when the video goes in and out of focus on his phone. I mean, it's just young kids I know, the patience to sit down, read a book, sing the song, and then get your minute of alone time. That's not for the weak. I mean, that's crazy, and it explains why a lot of guys do flame out no matter how athletic or strong their arms are. So I remember I wrote a story when Kirk first came to Minnesota where I interviewed a quarterback coach that he had worked with on some throwing technique when he was in Washington. And what he did when he was in Washington as a backup because he wasn't getting a whole lot of reps with the first. It might not even be the second team because I think Rex Grossman was there as well when he first started. And so he wasn't getting a lot of opportunity to even really throw the football in practice. And so he would fly this coach in and they would work with after practice together to just try to subtly and slowly improve his throwing technique.

And he would do that all the time. And I think that there was also a story. I can't remember. Maybe Bleacher Report wrote it about how he had an office in washington specifically kind of for him so he could go in there and study and kind of have his own space to him i think what you really see is a guy who when you look at his nfl combine scores incredibly unimpressive as an athlete in comparison to like the cam newtons of the world and the michael vicks of the world uh or the josh allens and he doesn't have the height, the speed, whatever.

So he understood from really day one of being in the NFL and probably even when he was in college as well, because he was not a highly recruited athlete coming out of high school, that the only way he was going to make it was just by doing things that other people were not willing to do. And, you know, it's sort of like the real magic with him is what happens behind the scenes, the stuff that nobody sees, and how much he puts into it. And those are such great examples. I mean, it looks a little funny, someone used the the prison Mike meme of him with the electrode thing on his head. And there's, there is some of me that says, like,

does this really work or really do anything? But I think that the sheer amount of information and focus that it requires to memorize just all of the plays and not just your own assignment, which a wide receiver or a tight end or something might have to know it's every single person's assignment where they have to be. And I don't know that any show has ever done a better job at taking us behind the scenes of what it takes to actually just stand out there on the field. Yeah. Well, the photographic memory thing is, well, it's not that these guys have photographic memories like, you know, McVeigh, right? It's like these guys are very close to it. And it takes intense studying where you sit there and look at it.

If somebody offered you thirty five million dollars to do that for, I don't know what, eight, nine straight months. It's like you watch what he's doing in that. And yeah, you take it and you do it. But the commitment and that must be just a miserable 10 months outside of game days. I mean, that's that's quite the commitment. and that must be just a miserable 10 months outside of game days. I mean, that's quite the commitment. But what I thought really stood out, you know, when you talk about the physical attributes and being lowly recruited and, you know, the only way he can stay in the game is with this cerebral nature and putting in the work with his mind, really,

just having enough arm talent and whatnot to get the job done. But how does a guy, and this is where I think those electrodes and neuro focus thing really come into play here maybe, is when a guy in a game against Buffalo gets absolutely destroyed and his ribs are on the verge of cracking in half on both sides and you hear him groaning in pain, but to still in those moments stand in there and make some of the throws he made to Justin Jefferson in that game. Remember late? There was that deep throw to the sideline that

set up the eventual major talking point from the show, which was the QB sneak mistake that he made, and Kevin O'Connell was all over him. But to make those throws when you're in that kind of pain, in that kind of pressure, unbelievable that that's just arm talent and guts that's that's the stuff that I don't think anybody ever thought Kirk Cousins necessarily had it's like we see him playing 16 17 games whatever the length of the regular season is and we say okay well that's because he's you know he's not a scrambling quarterback he's not he's avoiding the big hits he's getting rid of the ball he's protecting himself that's not a scrambling quarterback. He's not he's avoiding the big hits. He's getting rid of the ball. He's protecting himself. That's not always the case.

And I think this was an eye opener for me anyway, to say just how tough he is, especially when you're in your mid 30s and things do take longer to heal. It's really remarkable. And he deserves a standing ovation for that kind of performance. Yeah. Tell me about it. This is sort of devolves into the hey remember those people on the internet who said they could gain five yards in the nfl i just want to watch

kirk take a hit there and he spends the entire year preparing his body for those hits uh the other day i was doing something moving and uh we'll get eventually we'll have a nicer background here uh someday when i I finally get moved. But I just leaned over and pulled something in my back. And it took like four. It took like four days to heal. Like, yeah, Kirk and I are almost the same age. And so that's what he's that's what he's going through in comparison.

And coming at you and knocking you on your backside and you make a throw and complete it. And I thought that was a really cool moment to show. Deron Payne hits Kirk Cousins and he's on your backside, and you make a throw and complete it. I thought that was a really cool moment in the show. Deron Payne hits Kirk Cousins, and he's on his back. Oh, oh. Did we get the first down? And then moments before that, Deron Payne hits him and taps him, and he's like, you'll be all right. It's like this is not fair.

This is a little Kirk versus big Deron, and you just got leveled, but you won the play i mean it's it's amazing it's amazing what these guys can accomplish i think this does shine a light on sort of the right and wrong criticisms of kirk cousins which is something that over the last i don't know five plus years or whatever that we've talked about a lot on this show it's like if and and this sort of gets into what i was talking with vikings fans about is you i think that you can say that he can't get them over the top by himself that even with good teams that they've had it's just not enough you can point to the contract you can point to the

lack of athleticism and a lack of playmaking and i think there's even something to be said through this documentary of what you talked about with pat Mahomes. And while some people may be put off by the cockiness of Patrick Mahomes, there's also the element of let's talk about all the greatest athletes to ever play. And they all kind of have that next level gene of competitiveness to the level of being a psycho where he says, like, I just black out sometimes out there and start just doing stuff. I don't even know what's going on. And I think that there is that there is a part of him where, when we're talking about that check down on fourth and eight,

and he's saying like, well, you know, Jefferson is double teamed and we're all going Kirk. That's a, you should really just throw that to him anyway. So there's, there's like parts that are worth

criticizing and then there's others that are not like his toughness his ability to lead an offense his professionalism and i think what this also showed joe was the care like the ride home is the scene that i think a lot of people will take home with them for a long time because you can just sense the agony that he was going through because he really felt like that was his one big shot to make this happen and to not have it happen uh you could really feel that it was it was crushing his soul yeah i'm at a point in my life where it's it's actually really starting to bother me when when i go on twitter which is a hellscape, of course.

But anywhere, when I sit here and see people justifying their, not even criticisms, but a-hole-ism towards athletes because they make a lot of money. It's like mental health matters and $35 million can buy you a lot of therapists, but your therapist might be a hundred bucks a session, right? And that might be the best therapist in the world for you. These guys, it's not, I mean, they can't take that much. You cannot hammer people the way we've been hammering people in this world for ages. It comes with the territory is such a lame excuse. You know, just put yourself in somebody else's shoes for once in your life and try to imagine what it would be like to sit down at dinner with your kid or your wife or your friends and have them ask about how much the world despises you because you didn't throw for a first down. I get it. It's what this whole industry is made of,

right? It's this jackassism that exists in media, but it doesn't have to be. We can all be kind. Like I really do feel for these guys. We see it all the time. I'll never forget it. A few years ago, I wrote a story about Adrian Payne, the former Timberwolf, right? And it was just a mockery and I feel guilty about it to this day, but somebody created a video of lowlights. You know, Adrian Payne was a great Michigan State player, but he wasn't a good NBA player. He was a great basketball player. He made it to the highest level. Well, then Adrian Payne dies a few years later, and all you see is all these wonderful stories about how he's helping kids with cancer away from the

court and everything. His whole NBA career was just filled with people online mocking him. And I was a part of that for that brief moment. And I feel bad about that. So like when you actually sit back and think about what you're saying about Kirk Cousins, and then you get an opportunity to see how great of a guy he is, at least in these snippets where these videos are uncensored around him all the time. Yes, he did say that he had the opportunity to approve all of the content that went out in the show. So maybe there's some uglier moments that didn't get out there. I don't know. But you got to think twice about it. Culture has to change. That's my soapbox, I guess. But yeah, I really feel for him because he just seems like such a legit, genuinely nice guy. I think, uh, what, one of the biggest takeaways from the fans I talked to was humanizing

Kirk cousins for them in ways that, I mean, if you are reading every single thing that's ever been written about Kirk, you would probably get a good understanding of this stuff, but I'm not sure anyone could possibly do that. Uh, but you know, I think you can live in both worlds where you can live in a world where it's very fair to look at the Kirk Cousins era and say, this was not what it was expected to be to have one playoff win. It was expected to be more than that. You can look at times throughout his career here where he's been kind of tone deaf in the way that he acted and, you know, his, some of his public comments and things like that that would be off-putting to fans and deserving of criticism that's why i'm

talking about like in the realm of what we should and should not criticize about kirk cousins and it is also worth bringing up exactly what you said that throughout a season well they first of all they didn't pick 2021. They picked 2022. So it was a lot easier to make Kirk look like, you know, he was having an okay time and a fun time with this team and the locker room and everything else. I would love to see the NFL films behind the scenes for 2021. And I also think that you have to understand that the job of this thing was to show certain parts of playing quarterback but if it's inside

the locker room all the time if it was inside the coach's room all the time uh there's a lot of drama and there's a lot of things that happen a lot of tense moments i mean i would have loved to have seen the behind the scenes on their last practice before week one where they were where they i think they threw five interceptions or something and there was clearly some dissent going on at training camp so a lot of like the negative parts of what happens throughout a season and the tension and frustration and and people not getting along and drama is washed out of this and you just have to understand that that's not a criticism it's just just like the jordan documentary it's done by jordan you have to understand what we're trying to do here um but i want to talk about kevin'Connell in this, because I think that obviously Kirk Cousins,

the family man, the tough guy, the like does anything, you know, and everything to be on the field guy is the biggest winner of the whole thing. I mean, we already knew all this about Mahomes. We kind of already knew all this about Mariota, but second biggest winner, I think is Kevin O'Connell. And it was very interesting to get even just a little window into his relationship with Kirk Cousins. What I thought was really, really prudent about his presence in the episodes was he comes across as the guy who would be a player's coach, but you don't want to disappoint him. Like he's very fair, but he's very stern, but he does it in a very polite way. Like he's just a professional from top to bottom, head to toe.

The moment where he's upset with Kirk in the Buffalo game. I think that's a great example because he can separate friend from business, right? A lot of people can't do that. And that's what I think you have to do as a football coach and a leader of men. Kirk always mentions, we always saw all of these post-game celebrations in the locker room where Kirk's like, all right, man, all right, man, you talk to him like men, but you're very serious about it. This is a business. Leslie Frazier, I always thought when he was there, he was too quiet. Brad Childress, I thought, didn't have that relationship ability.

Mike Zimmer, same kind of thing, too stern, too much of a, this is football. KOC seems like he just has that perfect blend, the perfect ingredient that's going to help sustain a culture of success and happiness, but with expectations being met, like nobody's going to walk over him because they know that if they abuse that relationship, he's not going to put up with it. Yeah, I think that's true. And one of the questions that I had about O'Connell early on, especially when last year they were making a big deal of him not yelling during training camp,

of which, let me tell you, when Mike Zimmer was coaching, it was a little bit louder than that with... a big deal of him not yelling during training camp of which let me tell you when mike zimmer was coaching it was a little bit louder than that uh with the loudest of all time is in my in my experience eric biennium oh my god when he was the running backs coach of the vikings when adrian was young uh i'll never forget toby gerhart must have nightmares about the amount of yelling sessions he had. And we're not talking yelling sessions. We're talking like, hey, this is your father straight from hell. He just got home from the bar and he's going to abuse you verbally.

This is terrifying stuff. But I digress. Go on. No, and I think actually what you just said is one of the reasons Bien-Ami hasn't gotten a head coaching job along with other reasons. But some of that, I think that he's even rubbed my homes the wrong way at times and uh there's been a little bit of conflict between those two which i think is played into it um for why he hasn't gotten more attention despite his accomplishments uh but uh phil rousher their offensive line coach

from two years ago he was the guy that you could hear all the way outside of the stadium if you were there for for practice but one of my questions was uh just is he going to be able to turn it on when he needs to turn it on because like you said mr nice guy is good but you also need to be able to mf some people to make sure that everybody knows like you're serious and i remember there's a great story about Joe Gibbs, where Joe Gibbs was the most even type of guy. And they went into halftime once down, you know, 14 points or something. And Joe Gibbs threw a table and they were like, oh my gosh, if this guy lost it. And I think there needs to be some of that with him as well. And also where it's like an understanding.

And I think Gary Kubiak was great at this too. An understanding of what you're going through as a quarterback but also the standard is not just excuses when you make mistakes right and you know and the way he i think talked about kirk and defended him in public is admirable as well but much more importantly that relationship between the two and this goes to again we don't know about all those interactions we only know the way that they're presented here but my mind went to the next quarterback because i'm me and of course it did but here's what i think though i think what you saw from the perspective of the next quarterback who comes in what he's going to be up against with o'connell's offense whoever that might be if it's a rookie but also what he has in a person who's going to be up against with O'Connell's offense, whoever that might be, if it's a rookie, but also what he has in a person who's going to lead him.

And I remember when he was getting hired and there was a chunk of people that wanted Harbaugh and maybe we did too for the content just a little bit. But the thing that I pushed back the most on was, don't you want the offensive coordinator who worked with McVay, who like connects with people and is a former quarterback, because there's nothing that's going to be more important than the next quarterback. And I think you come away with even more confidence than you had after last year. Yeah, absolutely. All of that happened with one year of, you know, the KOC game plan, which is pretty remarkable. And to have so many fourth quarter comebacks and come from behind

victories, I mean, that's remarkable in and of itself. Now, I remember writing the story last year about how the offense was just, this might have been just a first half issue more than a second half of the season issue, but third quarters, they were disastrous for the first five, six games of the season. I think through week six, they had six points in the third quarter and they were lighting up teams. They were up 21-0 on the Bears, and then they find themselves down 22-21, and this kept on happening. But I think those kinds of issues might go away in year two because they'll just have that offense down pat a little bit more.

But in terms of Kevin O'Connell and is he the right kind of leader and is he the nice guy and can he find that balancing act? Where I think he did that, and maybe this is all quiesia dofumensa, but where KOC gets some credit here is moving on from a lot of popular players. I mean, those are things that this franchise hasn't done in the past. And I think actions speak louder than words. And when you say goodbye to Adam Thiel, Dalvin Cook specifically, and then Patrick Peterson to a degree, and Z'Darrius Smith wanted out him to a degree as well. Eric Kendricks definitely is one of those that is a big star next to his name. When you say goodbye

to those players, it sends a signal that nobody's safe, even if you're my buddy. Remember, KOC talked glowingly about Adam Thielen. Every time he talked about him, he's like, this is a good friend of mine. This is somebody that I rely on. We have a great relationship. It seems like a lifelong kind of thing. But this is a business, and it didn't get in the way of that decision, that roster move.

So I think we can probably expect the same kind of thing for Kirk Cousins going forward. Maybe they sign him to an extension, maybe they don't, but the seeds have been planted where they now have set the precedent that nobody is safe. It doesn't matter what your contract status is or what your friendship is like, you know, how much respect you have. It's just business. And I think he's done that. Yeah. I think that even during last year, he did a good job, Kevin O'Connell, at the end of the season, sort of preparing people for what was going to happen, where he talked about how much those players meant to him. But there's realities of business. And you can kind of I mean, with them, though, you can't really put it on the GM because it's really these two. It's like the Zimmer Spielman era, the Adolfo Mensah, Kevin O'Connell era, a little harder to say, you know, more syllables. But I mean, it's that it's

like they're a team. They have presented themselves that way. They go to San Diego State basketball games during the NCAA tournament that way. And so being ruthless and allowing some of those players to go when I think a lot of coaches would fight for those veteran players to stay. And maybe that's why they did in part. Also, there's the ownership element of all that. But I don't want to get too far away from the Netflix show conversation, because I think that that communication, the ability to communicate, but also lead in somewhat of a stern way at times, but also an understanding way at times was really important. But one thing that didn't really happen, Joe,

is adversity with this team last year. And I thought that, you know, with this, of course, as you're following along the ride, you see how Kirk dealt with the loss to the Giants and everything else. But I guess the fact that they didn't play any more games after that, I wonder if it will linger. And I wonder how things will progress with Kirk Cousins this year and with Kevin O'Connell when it is a little bit different.

It is a little bit beyond just the honeymoon here for both of those guys. And if there are, I think, more bumps in the road, that will be something that's really interesting to watch how he reacts because last year was mostly a magic carpet ride. Yeah, the only real example I think we got last year of responding to adversity was the Dallas blowout, right? You get your ass kicked 40 to 3 on Sunday night football and the whole world is laughing at you, you at you seven days after you have the miracle game

against the Bills, which if we're all being real, the Vikings probably should have won about seven games last year. It was just remarkable, and that might be their fate this year. But how they respond is yet to be determined, and we really don't have any information to base any kind of prediction off of other than that Dallas game, right? That was a regular season game. They had the excuse that, hey, we were exhausted after that Buffalo thriller, right? They had the excuse that, hey, we were seven and one going into that game. We had the excuse that, hey, our seeds are planted

in the playoffs pretty much already because we're in this division. I mean, they had a lot of things going for them in terms of excuse land. So I honestly, I can't draw from anything off the top of my head that that would scream. Yeah, they're going to come back from that adversity against the Giants. I mean, there's literally nothing other than the Dallas game. Yeah. Did you think of anything? And the way that they bounced back a few uh nights later against the new england patriots was very impressive um although they did give up mac jones's best game ever but it came that night um but there's not a whole lot they could do there i guess that the the part about adversity is just the defense and the way it was handled was not good enough uh because i think that if he's learning anything from last year,

we talk about that sternness. And I don't want to give him too much credit for that because I think that when a defensive coordinator continues to be insubordinate and not play the way you want him to play, you can't let him stay in charge. And they did that for Ed Donatell. And it very well may have cost them

because they just refused to ever blitz Daniel Jones in that playoff game and they he sat back and picked them apart and they lost in part because of it and I know I did notice that Kirk snuck in there well when you only have like 50 plays and it was like yeah I hear you buddy I know what you're saying and you know what what was cut out of that conversation might have been a longer rant about the defense uh between him and his wife because I'll tell you if I was him I probably would have been a longer rant about the defense between him and his wife. Because I'll tell you, if I was him, I probably would have been having that rant about the defense on my way home. Oh, yeah. Well, what do you think it was? Do you think it was the actual struggle with implementing a more aggressive defense in the course of a season?

Or was it Kevin O'Connell maybe that was the one a season? Or was it, you know, Kevin O'Connell, maybe that was the one hiccup where he was like, I just can't find it in me. I don't have the intestinal fortitude to tell this respected leader with years of experience and successful defenses at Donatello that he needs to be more aggressive. Did he just, was that a miss on his part or was it actually more of a scheme thing where they couldn't, couldn't do it? They didn't have the brain power on defense to get it done i think that kevin o'connell tried to get donatel to change and i think that sometimes in some parts of games he would like against indianapolis they were really aggressive in the second half of that game but it was really only because there was

nothing to lose anytime it was a close game he completely backed off and i think that they had just enough kind of like salvaging performances for him to not pull the trigger and just fire at donatel but probably should have and and you know what there's another part of it too and i don't know that this played into it and i've i've maybe like floated this to a few people who don't agree with it. So I'm not saying there's something really to it, but if you make a firing like that, you have to tell who you have to tell ownership. And if you tell ownership, I want to fire the defensive coordinator in the middle of the season.

Isn't that what people didn't like about Mike Zimmer is that he kept doing that, you know, firing coordinators and coaches and stuff and having the changes. So I did wonder if there was some lingering kind of impact of like the last guy would do this so i can't really do this or if he just believed that he would turn it around i think with ed donatel it was really that the cover band is not as good as the real band um that vic fangio is the real deal he's

the beatles and the uh ed donatel is the cover band who dresses up like the Beatles and plays your little local festival. And it's just not the same. So anyway, I want to ask you this, though. It's something that I asked a bunch of fans when I talked to them for this story. Was, did it change what you think of the situation with Kirk? Not the view of him. because I think it did. I think it did change. One fan said, look, I mean, I've been as critical as anybody about not winning,

but if you are just hating on him as a guy, you're just going to hate on anything no matter what. And so I think it did have an impact in how he's viewed overall. But does it impact how we think the future is going to go now that we've seen more behind the scenes or how we think it should go i hope it doesn't and here's why i i'm a proponent of moving on from kirk cousins either you know before the november trade deadline this year or after the season right like if you can trade him great that only happens obviously if you're melting down

and you're out of contention. But I think they have to move on, and here's why. I liken Kirk Cousins to, you know, actually this is kind of romantic, but the Minnesota Twins pitching staff this year, right? If you want to talk about baseball, the Twins have one of the best ERAs in the majors. They've got some starting pitchers like Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan and Sonny Gray who are pretty good. But deep down, I know that when Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, or Sonny Gray are going to be facing the Astros or the Yankees in the playoffs,

they're going to get melted down. They're going to struggle. There are very few guys in sports who can take you over the top. And if the Vikings want to get over the top, I think Kirk Cousins is more like a Sonny Gray or a Joe Ryan or a Pablo Lopez than he is a Garrett Cole or a Randy Johnson or a Curt Schilling or Pedro Martinez. Patrick Mahomes is Pedro Martinez. You need a Roger Clemens.

Who's a Roger Clemens, right? Who's a Roger Clemens? There's what, five or six of them in the NFL right now that you can legitimately say, and Justin Jefferson probably had all five of them on his top five quarterbacks list, right? I mean, there's not many out there. So yeah, definitely the show changed my opinion, or at least it changed my view of who Kirk cousins is all around. Already knew that he was a great guy. I didn't know he was this appealing on all different levels. I didn't know his abs were quite that ripped. You know,

there's a lot of stuff that I learned and I, I like about him, but it doesn't change my opinion about what he's going to do on the big stage until he proves otherwise. And I also think that there's another interpretation of the toughness that says like this, this guy just got tenderized. Like he just got, I mean, he just, he just got beaten down this year. Do you want to sign a guy who you just watched on TV, get obliterated week in and week out and barely walk up to his his walk up to read the Bible book to his little boy after a game he can barely walk up the stairs because his ribs are bleeding or bleeding around his ribs I don't know what's going on in

there it's brutal though right like he's 35 years old it's not going to be sore it's going to be injured eventually you can only be durable for so long and maybe he'll he's father time and he can handle it. But I, I don't know. I would not risk signing him to anything beyond this year. I just wouldn't do it. Yeah. And it really speaks to, you know, we've seen this a number of times with quarterbacks that they get to the mid thirties and then they do have that fall off. And some of them keep playing badly. Like Eli Manningning he just kept playing in his mid-30s but I mean Matt Ryan at 35 years old I think was 4 and 12 I mean the start hit and Matt Ryan is a much superior athlete to Kirk Cousins but sort of in that same range of not the best best best quarterback in the league and that was when he started to drift off and he's

still like 6'4 and 230 and and much more built than cousins is. I think it's just the forces of nature when you get hit that much. And I do wonder about this season where those things do add up and it's not like you just get an off season. It all heals up and you're exactly a hundred percent. It's kind of like my back injury in a way where I hurt this actually during COVID at some point. And every once in a while, it just continues to come up. And I think that will happen over the years as anyone does

have it happen, except for the absolute freaks of the breeze and the Rogers and so forth that last deep into their thirties and forties. So it's not a good bet. I mean, even if you like what you saw and even if you think, well, these two two can win together eventually look at where the roster is look at what the price tag is look at what he wanted multiple years from his side to be extended I don't think it changes any of the realities even if people even if the whole world is saying wow whole new respect for this guy and how much he puts in but I think that it also does leave a little pang of fear for the next quarterback because I think what everybody realizes is if the next guy isn't willing to do all these same things as Kirk Cousins even if he is more physically gifted then it really shows you there's probably 15 people who are

walking around Roger Goodell's green grass who can actually put themselves through this stuff and have the talent to play and the leadership and the understanding of football and everything else and the accuracy and all that stuff and so you go oh man if there's only like 15 guys like we're gonna draft one is that really the silver bullet but i think that we're at a point where regardless of how much you enjoyed that and as an nfl films junkie it's like right up my alley it's everything that i want uh in in you know a show but i think you could still sort of pull yourself back despite the football high and say yeah but i still think there's some realities to this thing that they

can't overcome unless they draft someone here's what here's what i'd be worried about if if you really you really sit back and take a 30,000-foot view of this whole situation, you brought it up earlier. How much say does ownership have when it comes to these decisions, right? Are Ziggy and Mark Wilf hands off and they're like, hey, Quacey, just do what you think is best for this team? Or do they see these eight episodes and Kirk Cousins' markability skyrocketing. I mean, let's think about this.

The last 12 months of Kirk Cousins, the markability has gone through the roof. You had the Kirko Chains thing. You had the NFL honors show where they put the 17 chains on him, and they highlighted it all in the Netflix episode as well. And now you get these eight episodes that make him as endearing as anyone in the game, right? Like people are newfound respect for this guy. They might look at him in a different light and say, okay, we do have ourselves a top 10 quarterback. Just watch him. He'll inch up all these rankings, right? But

is that enough or is that going to be the influencer for ownership to say, we got to give this guy three more years, even if it means it's not our best shot to win a Super Bowl. That's dangerous. And here's the other part too. Fans are going to look at him and now say, well, we can't get rid of Kirk. He's our best shot to win a Super Bowl because that is the reality right now. He's our best shot to win a Super Bowl. But what's going to happen, right? You're not going to get there. Maybe you won't get there. And now you sacrificed two or three more years of the Kweisi KOC regime, and they still won't have had their say on how things work. And I know you've

written extensively about that. And it's decision time for them to go with a new quarterback or hitch their wagon to Kirk. Now now it feels like because of the market market ability that they might be forced to hitch their wagon to kirk long term i think that's a that's a truly dangerous scenario that that we're all facing here in the very near future you know that sounds like that sounds like a trolley bring me the news uh article that you yeah that that you asked me to write and i'm like no i'm writing that uh but there um there has been a handful of fans who have asked me that question like uh are the wilfs gonna watch this thing and like kirk so much that they like demand he's extended

and my initial reaction was like come on no and then i watched it i was like okay i don't know maybe the wilfs are in the business of making money they were they were printing bills before they were building u.S. Bank Stadium, right? I mean, that's what they do. They're real estate icons, moguls. You know, this is what they do. They see the marketability and they're like, oh, my God. Shirts nowadays are going for $35 with a Nike logo on them.

Let's get those chains on Kirk's neck and print them. You know, it's crazy. They know they'll still sell out that stadium. They know that they'll go to the playoffs. They know that they're making money. It's dangerous. Well, I do. Yeah, I do think.

And it's hard to say. Like, I don't have their text messages to Kwesi and Appalmenta. But I do think that when Kwesi and Kevin O'Connell arrived arrived if we're putting together all the pieces of the puzzle what we've seen now that we know in hindsight is that this was the agreed upon direction and i think that you would be doing a massive disservice to your new gm and coach if you don't give them any shots at their own quarterback especially with the advantage that they have to have figured out by now of the salary cap with a rookie quarterback contract plus you know kevin o'connell mentioned i don't know a bunch of times last year to us at the combine and then in a couple other press conferences how he really likes looking at all the quarterbacks in the draft and

you just can see him like foaming at the mouth a little like give me my shot give me my shot to draft one and they've kind of made their bet on not drafting Kenny Pickett or Will Levis like they're kind of betting on Kevin O'Connell's ability and his staff to identify who that guy is but there is always the if you win too many games then you're going to end up kind of out of that discussion but I think Mahomes is is evidence that you can get up there if you want to I mean I think that Kansas City was drafting like 27th or something and traded all the way up to 10. If you really want somebody, you could probably find a way. So anyway, those who haven't watched it, I would highly suggest it. Or at bringmethenews.com, you guys have done a lot of the sort of must-watch things if you're not all of your money to purple insider sub stack which i think you could do then um and you'd rather not sign up for netflix for one thing then you could definitely see you know recaps from what you guys wrote but uh fun to get together with you joe i appreciate is a really fun

conversation thanks for coming on man yeah thanks dude we'll see you on the golf course ah yes yes i've been working at it and i'm still bad uh BringMeTheNews.com, though, is where you can find all Minnesota news and sports. All right. Thanks. We'll talk again soon.