11 October 2023
Kirk Cousins insists he doesn’t hear the outside noise. He has made it a point to insulate himself pretty much since he got to the NFL. He remembers hearing early in his career that former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck had a flip phone rather than a smart phone.
“That was by design,” Cousins said. “I thought, ‘That’s pretty good.’ ”
Though he doesn’t actually have a flip phone himself — Cousins said he actually tried one out a few years ago before switching back — he stays off his smart phone as much as he can when he’s at home. No social media. No push notifications. No constant scrolling.
As a result, Cousins is able to filter the amount of content he consumes on a daily basis. That’s probably a good thing for him right now with how much his name has come up in NFL trade rumors. Naturally, he claims he hasn’t heard any of the discourse that has popped up as of late.
“You know, ignorance is bliss, and I’m just really ignorant,” he said. “I don’t really have access to a whole lot, and I try to do that by design. It’s pretty intentional. Aside from high school friends who may text me what they’re reading, and I text them back, ‘I prefer to remain ignorant, so I would appreciate not getting texts.”
The most common proposed rumor has centered on the Vikings trading Cousins to the New York Jets in a blockbuster deal. Those galaxy-brain ideas picked up even more steam after the Vikings placed star receiver Justin Jefferson on injured reserve following last Sunday’s 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs that dropped the Vikings’ record to 1-4.
As far as some people are concerned, with the Vikings off to such an awful start to this season, they would be better off embracing the stink for the next few months in the name of potentially being able to select their quarterback of the future early in the 2024 NFL Draft.
There will be a number of good options early in the draft, including Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams and North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye.
Nonetheless, the Vikings seem unlikely to move Cousins at this point. Even if they were to find a suitor, they would then have to convince Cousins to waive his no-trade clause, and there’s no guarantee he would do that. Asked if there was any scenario that could get him to think about it, Cousins shifted the narrative to the fact the Vikings were preparing to play the Chicago Bears this Sunday.
“You know, I’m focused on the Bears, and going 1-0 this week,” Cousins said. “Anything else is not worth my time or energy or retention.”
As much as Cousins ignores it, if the Vikings continue to sputter in the coming weeks, the trade rumors will continue to swirl. They won’t go away until the Oct. 31 trade deadline passes. Not that Cousins is paying any attention to something he claims to not be able to hear.
“I’ve been insulated at times to the point of being naïve and a little stupid,” he admitted. “I’d rather that than consuming everything.”
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