ESPN thinks the Vikings will miss out on Kirk Cousins

While the Minnesota Vikings are expected to be one of the major players in the upcoming sweepstakes for quarterback Kirk Cousins, there’s at least one of the major sports outlets that seems to think that Cousins will not end up in purple in a week and a half.

Over at ESPN, their football folks are answering some questions about free agency, and one of those questions is “Who will play the most snaps at quarterback for the Vikings in 2018?” The question was posed to a panel of these eight people:

• Mike Sando, senior NFL writer
• Courtney Cronin, Vikings’ writer for ESPN
• Matt Bowen, NFL writer
• Kevin Seifert, national NFL writer
• Field Yates, NFL insider
• Mina Kimes, senior writer
• Dan Graziano, national NFL writer
• Aaron Schatz, editor-in-chief of Football Outsiders

Of the eight people that were asked, only Yates answered with “Kirk Cousins.”

The Vikings were publicly reticent throughout much of the 2017 regular season to fully and entirely commit to Keenum as the guy, which suggests to me that the team won’t overextend to keep him. Cousins, meanwhile, is the rare available quarterback who can shift the winds of a franchise, helping Minnesota -- armed with the financial resources to acquire him -- elevate to another level.

The other seven votes were divided between two of the Vikings’ current quarterback trio.

The player that got the most votes was actually Teddy Bridgewater, who was selected by four of the eight members of the panel. That includes Cronin, who is the regular writer for the Vikings at ESPN and who would likely have as much knowledge of what was going on at Winter Park as anyone. Here’s what she had to say about the situation:

I predict the Vikings will end up getting outbid in the Cousins sweepstakes, thus leading them to re-sign two of their pending free-agent quarterbacks. Though Minnesota might franchise tag Keenum, it would make sense to use its cap space to work out deals with Keenum and Bridgewater. The Vikings typically don’t have quarterback competitions in training camp, but given the unique nature of their situation, both Bridgewater and Keenum will have a chance to duke it out in camp. It might not be in the beginning of the season, but by some point in 2018, I believe Bridgewater will emerge as the starter.

Bowen, Kimes, and Graziano also took Bridgewater.

The other three members of the panel went with Case Keenum. That includes Seifert, who at one time was the lead Vikings’ beat writer for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Here’s his take on everything:

Part of the Vikings’ public ambivalence could be related to leverage. Declaring a quarterback your guy means you have to pay him that way. There is no doubt that Zimmer loves Bridgewater, but the Vikings know how rarely in their history they have gotten a performance like the one Keenum gave them in 2017. We have no information at the moment that would allow us to project Bridgewater as the superior quarterback.

Sando and Schatz joined Seifert in taking Keenum. I guess if your last name begins with an “S,” then Keenum is your guy. (There probably isn’t any actual correlation on this subject. . .it’s just how it happened to work out.)

Who do you think takes the most snaps for the Vikings at quarterback in 2018?