San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan’s connection to quarterback Kirk Cousins has become a regular talking point around the team’s search for an improvement under center. Even with no substantial reporting indicating the 49ers were on track to trade for Cousins this offseason, it didn’t stop the internet rumor mill from churning.
While a quick bit of critical thinking would have all but eliminated the possibility of such a trade going down, Vikings general manager Rick Spielman on Wednesday was blunt in his assessment of his team’s quarterback situation and didn’t leave a lot of room for speculation.
“Kirk Cousins is our quarterback,” Spielman said via ESPN. “I know there’s a lot of rumors floating around out there, but Kirk Cousins is our quarterback. We felt that he played very well, probably the best that he’s ever played, down that stretch last year.”
The first problem when trying to connect the dots between Cousins and a reunion with Shanahan was answering the question of why the Vikings would even look to deal their quarterback. He’s coming off arguably the best season of his career, and in his last two seasons with Minnesota he’s led them to the postseason once while churning out 8.1 yards per attempt and throwing 61 touchdowns against just 19 interceptions.
Cousins is 25-21-1 in three years as the Vikings starter, and last season’s 7-9 finish had more to do with their 29th-ranked scoring defense than it did with their offense.
If Cousins was a free agent, the story may be different. Perhaps Shanahan does still covet the player he coached for two seasons in Washington. However, Cousins is under contract with a team that wants him, and Spielman loudly confirmed what we should’ve already known.