For years, it appeared Kirk Cousins would find himself in the Bay Area.
Acquiring the four-time Pro Bowler was atop Kyle Shanahan’s bucket list when he first took over as the San Francisco 49ers head coach. According to Kyle’s father, the Niners did their best to turn Shanahan’s dream into reality.
Mike Shanahan told Alec Lewis of The Athletic that San Francisco tried to send the No. 2 overall pick to Washington in 2017 in exchange for Cousins. Ultimately, the deal never came to fruition and the rest is history.
Cousins has gone on to have an uber-productive career with the Minnesota Vikings, while the 49ers reached a Super Bowl with Jimmy Garoppolo under center and have since found a hidden gem in Brock Purdy.
With a Monday night showdown with Cousins on the horizon, Shanahan confirmed to reporters on Thursday that San Francisco’s pursuit of the Vikings quarterback is long gone.
“Not really. I mean, you think that all the way up to the moment,” he said when asked if he thinks about a scenario where the Niners acquired Cousins. “But when we got the opportunity that we traded for Jimmy, we were still thinking about it, but after those six games he played we moved on and we’ve moved on since then and really haven’t looked back.”
Cousins’s playing future has been a trending topic this season, as the 35-year-old is in the final year of his contract with the Vikings. Sitting in third place in the NFC North, Minnesota has failed to win a playoff game in three seasons and looks destined for a restart under center in 2024.
Despite a 2-4 record, Cousins continues to carve up defenses, ranking second in the NFL with 1,679 passing yards. On Monday night, he’ll do his best to pick apart a San Francisco secondary that allows the 10th-fewest passing YPG (197.8) this season.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Cousins has no plan to waive his no-trade clause this season. However, that won’t halt speculation as quarterback-needy teams such as the New York Jets and Atlanta Falcons remain in the playoff hunt.
