5 quarterbacks to consider if SF 49ers pull plug on Jimmy Garoppolo

SF 49ers Candidate No. 4: Kirk Cousins

Earlier this season, our friends over at The Viking Age suggested the possibility Kyle Shanahan is still in on his plan to make a move for the Minnesota Vikings quarterback, Kirk Cousins.

Potentially sooner than later.

The 2-5 Vikings aren’t going anywhere this season, and there’s no shortage of rumblings a Minnesota shakeup could result in Cousins being jettisoned, especially if there’s a taker on his massive two-year, $66 million extension through 2022.

The suggestive text from the linked article said:

"When teams struggle in the NFL, the quarterback is typically the guy who gets a good amount of the blame. While Kirk Cousins and Jimmy Garoppolo haven’t been terrible this year, they also haven’t done enough to keep their respective teams among the group of NFC contenders. Now, it’s a little too late in the current season to make a major change under center. But if neither team makes the playoffs this year, both could be looking to make a quarterback change in 2021."

There’s no shortage of evidence linking Shanahan to Cousins, and it’s likely the SF 49ers would have gone after him big time if Garoppolo wasn’t traded from the New England Patriots in 2017.

The problem, though, is Cousins will count for $31 million against the cap next season. The Niners are projected to have just under $10 million in cap space next season, and even with Garoppolo presumably being released or even traded, it would be awfully difficult to squeeze that number under the cap without some serious altering of the roster elsewhere.

But Shanahan’s insistence and adoration of Cousins cannot be overstated here.