The Facts: With a guaranteed salary of $35 million, Cousins is expected to remain the Vikings' starter in 2022. But Minnesota has a new regime with GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and HC Kevin O'Connell who didn't sign Cousins - though O'Connell worked with the quarterback with Washington. And the club reportedly fielded a call from the Panthers regarding Cousins' availability. At the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday, Adofo-Mensah noted he's had a particularly positive first impression of Cousins since getting to the franchise in January. "He's an incredibly consistent passer," Adofo-Mensah said. "I don't think people realize that essentially every play has kind of a result baked into it, based on factors he can't control. And I think what you know about Kirk is when the odds are shifted in his favor, he gets the most out of it."

Diehards Line: Adofo-Mensah added: "I think people don't appreciate that skill enough. But he's incredibly consistent, incredibly accurate thrower. He's tough, he's durable. He plays every game. He stands in there and takes those hits, when those throws are a little bit harder to come by. He's an incredible player. He's cerebral. ... Just incredibly talented, smart, detailed - the level of detail in things we talked about was just incredible. I won't share that with you guys. But he's an incredible person and I'm excited to work with him." But Adofo-Mensah later added that "everything is in play," though he said he expected Cousins to play well for Minnesota in 2022. Cousins was a Pro Bowler for the second time in four seasons in 2021. In 16 games - he missed one while on the COVID-19 list - Cousins completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 4,221 yards with 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions.