Vikings GM on Kirk Cousins: 'We didn't acquire Kirk to not play'

Good to see everyone. Yeah, I just wanted to start out by, you know, recognizing Veterans Day and just thanking all the service members, you know, past, present, you know, for everything that they've done and essentially the reason that we're all here today. So that would include my father, Howard Teasley, my wife's grandfather, Robert Vegas, and my grandfather, Leonard Devine. So I'll start off with that. And I guess get to the reason why you're all here. We kind of talked about this from the beginning, even at the roster reduction, right? We're always exploring, always trying to find possibilities to improve our roster in the present while always having an eye to the future. And this is really no different than that. You've seen how we've handled the practice squad, you know, just always trying to be active and chasing edges in that regard. Again, in yesterday's trade is just another example of that. We've had a lot of conversations over the past several weeks regarding a lot of different positions. Ultimately, in Kirk, we saw an opportunity to acquire an accomplished quarterback and improve the Minnesota Vikings. Thank you. He made sense for a lot of reasons. There's familiarity with the offense, with the organization, with the coaching staff, his level of play, his production to this season, and everything just aligned. The quarterback position is one that can impact the entire team, and this roster, in all honesty, this roster has earned the right to explore the potential to maximize where we can take this thing. So we're excited today to get Kirk in the building and just get him acclimated. And as this team continues to attempt to improve as the season goes on, we have more games left to play than we have played to date. And so there's a lot of football left. But, again, just from the outset, what we said, we're just going to continue to find ways to improve our football team. Also with the trade deadline, With the trade deadline. You know, the waiver process changes, and that makes roster navigation a little bit more difficult, and with that comes more opportunity as well. So we'll continue to do what we have always done, and that is to try to be as active and creative as possible to put a competitive product on the field. And with that, I'll give it to you. I would tell you that it didn't. I mean, we've been looking for ways to improve this football team, again, for weeks. And we just followed the process. It was a wide net that we were casting. And ultimately, this is what we landed on. And this was the right move for this point in time. I saw a live arm, touch, placement, accuracy. Thank An effective athlete that can execute, you know, the elements of our system that we're trying to execute on a weekly basis. There's always potential for that, but this is really about 2026, and that's where we're focused. you. But we understood everything that we were inheriting, so we'll take that into account, and then when that time comes, we'll address it. The caliber of player, and again, the familiarity. And when you're acquiring this, any player, but this position specifically. You know, there's an acclimation process. And so the familiarity that he has, both the player and the person, the level of football intelligence, what it's going to take to prepare and get ready to play, all that comes into play in that regard. Yeah, listen, I mean, there's a lot of ability on the offensive side of the football, too, but we're really proud of the way that the defense is playing, but we still believe in the potential of the offense. There's a lot of really talented players over there, and so this is about doing what's best for the Vikings in totality. I mean, Kevin and I, anything that we do, we're in lockstep. We talk actively, so he was actively involved every step of the way. That would pertain to any other position or any other player that we acquired as well or discussed. I didn't specifically, no. I think it's pretty simple. You know, consistently impacted the other team's quarterback. Um, you know, You know, made offenses one-dimensional at times. Turned the ball over. Everything that we've seen on a week-to-week basis. Well, Kyler's, you know, he wasn't able to play on Monday. One day. And so I don't want to get into next week, I don't That's really what his status is. He wasn't able to play football on Monday, know and so we're looking to acquire a player that's healthy and able and ready to go. if you I would leave that to Kevin. can He's going to put us in the best position to succeed, but we also didn't acquire Kirk to not play. hear me. That's hypothetical. I can't really speak to that. Every position. Not a necessity, but it was certainly a bonus. And, you know, you can only acquire who's available, too. And so this was the player that was available, but it just coincided with we felt like it was the best option for us. And high caliber talent. And then he has a background in the system and a history with the organization. We were active up until, but it was ultimately the one where, you know, market met value and everything made sense. Yeah, I mean, everything is procedural here, right? Right. And so, um, This move was about 2026, and then continuing to assess the position, that's ongoing. You know, we're studying the draft class, we're studying the potential for agents, all of that starts really now, it's always ongoing, and then who's available even on the street currently. But, you know, this move was about what's best for the Vikings right now. I think I spoke to this, and when I get to sit in a room with Rob Brzezinski and Trent Kirshner and Andrew Healy and Ryan Pace and Ryan Munnins and Chisapara and, I mean, the list goes on and on, there is just a wealth of knowledge and perspective and different skill sets that we can check a lot of boxes over the course of one meeting that can allow us to make healthy decisions in an instant when the time comes. Listen, we care about our players, and that's why we're going to communicate openly. We care about each and every one of them, and we want the best for them. But we have to do what's best for the Vikings at this point in time. He's a good player that's played the most important position on the field and the most difficult position in sport for a long time. And he's had success throughout his career and is currently in the middle of a really, really good season. It was hypothetical. Where will we finish? What are we capable of? I know that this is a really good football team, that we're 6-2 through eight games, and we just acquired a really good football player. I've talked to a lot of teams over the course of the last several weeks, so I wouldn't really get into specifics of the timeline, but we were able to come to an agreement yesterday. We still believe in our room, still believe in the direction that we were headed with Kyler. Again, he wasn't able to play Monday night. Good night. Carson has accomplished things in this league that a lot of people haven't, and he's certainly capable of performing better than he did the other night. We still believe in him if his number is called, but the possibility of acquiring a player of Kirk's caliber became realistic, and so we made that move. Well, again, it's the hardest position to evaluate. It's hard to acquire. Um, so yeah, it's a little bit apples to apples, I guess, once you're in the, once you're in the league, we can watch you play against, um, NFL defenses and this, that, and the other, but, um, that's not necessarily a philosophical thing. We're trying to acquire the best player in that, in that instant. And this is another example of that. Yeah, specifically, I mean, shoot, it's hard. I've never done it, but it's hard to play quarterback in the National Football League. These defenses, the athletes that you're facing, and we're not even getting into what you have to accomplish from a mental standpoint, right? Even at the line of scrimmage, but also preparation. And then you have to apply that in less than three seconds and where the football is going. It's the hardest position in sport. Cool. Thanks, guys.