National Football League

Is Kirk Cousins good enough to win the Vikings a Super Bowl?

Updated Jan. 17, 2023 11:44 a.m. ET

Host, THE HERD; Co-Host, FOX NFL KICKOFF

Kirk Cousins' ranking among quarterbacks has been widely debated ever since he signed with the Vikings in 2018.

When Cousins joined Minnesota, he was given the first fully guaranteed contract in NFL history – a three-year, $84 million deal. Despite the massive payday, Cousins hasn't delivered great results for the Vikings through four seasons. Minnesota's made the playoffs just once and finished the 2021 season with an 8-9 record.

Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who was hired in January, didn't seem especially high on his quarterback in an interview with USA Today's Jori Epstein.

"I’ll be frank," Adofo-Mensah told Epstein. "The one asset where you get nervous about not burning it down is quarterback."

Even though Adofo-Mensah later called Cousins "a good quarterback," he also noted there are few great ones. Therein lies the conundrum of building a team.

"We don’t have Tom Brady," the Vikes GM said. "We don’t have Pat Mahomes. … [The Super Bowl] is more likely to win if you have that quarterback. It’s very unlikely to have that quarterback."

Despite Adofo-Mensah's comments and Cousins' shortcomings since joining the Vikings, Colin Cowherd still views the quarterback relatively highly. On Wednesday's "The Herd," Cowherd broke down his three tiers for starting quarterbacks. Tier 1 consists of the eight quarterbacks who he thinks can win a Super Bowl. Tier 2 is another eight quarterbacks he thinks can win a playoff game or two, while Tier 3 consists of the bottom 16 quarterbacks.

"Kirk Cousins is in Tier 2," Cowherd said. "Mike Sando had him rated 15th. That's about where I had him. I had him 14th, I think, last time I did it. So, I think there's only eight guys in the world in Tier 1 and probably eight in Tier 2 and probably 16 in Tier 3."

Can Kirk Cousins lead Vikings to a playoff run in 2022?

The Minnesota Vikings are entering the season looking to dethrone Aaron Rodgers for the NFC North crown. Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah expressed his concerns about Kirk Cousins, saying that they are less likely to win a Super Bowl without an elite QB. Colin Cowherd shares his QB tiers and explains why he is not confident in Cousins.

Cowherd later shared why having a quarterback, such as Cousins, from his Tier 2 is "not a terrible place to be."

"There's only eight teams [covered] in the first tier. And some of those guys in the first tier, Justin Herbert, haven't even made the playoffs yet. Most of them haven't even won Super Bowls," Cowherd said. "I don't think it's a shot at all at Kirk Cousins. I think we know exactly what he is. He's a very capable Tier 2 guy. They deserve to be paid a lot of money. I think Tier 2 quarterbacks are – they make billionaires rich. They sell merchandise, they fill a stadium, they're excellent."

Parts of Cousins' résumé might appear slightly better than Tier 2 status. Since joining the Vikings in 2018, he ranks seventh in passing yards (16,387), fifth in passing touchdowns (124) and sixth in passer rating (103.5). He's also fourth in completion percentage (68.3) and fifth in TD-INT ratio (3.4:1), a nod to his accuracy and decision-making.

But the three-time Pro Bowler's production doesn't lead to enough points. Over the past four seasons, Cousins ranks 14th in TD drive percentage (25.6). He also ranks 14th in winning percentage (.532).