Mike Florio predicts 49ers, Rams fight over Kirk Cousins in 2024, updates from George Kittle's TEU

You definitely can't say we didn't warn you with regard to increased chatter about the San Francisco 49ers and current Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins.

Because we did. Seriously.

Cousins is a free agent in 2024, and the latest scuttlebutt is that Minnesota won't re-sign him a year from now, at least according to the quarterback himself.

Knowing the affinity Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan has historically had for Cousins over the years, it's become something of a never-ending theme to talk about when, not if, the 34-year-old Cousins makes his way to the Bay Area.

However, according to one national NFL insider with plenty of Vikings connections, it might not be a Northern California destination.

Southern California might get involved, too.

Mike Florio speculates Kirk Cousins will draw interest from 49ers, also from Rams

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio weighed in on the topic with Rich Eisen this week (h/t 49ers Webzone) and talked about what the future holds for Cousins, if indeed, Minnesota wants to move in a new direction in 2024.

While mentioning the Niners as a possible Cousins suitor isn't anything new for Florio, so we shouldn't be too shocked about San Francisco being brought up once more.

However, Florio did state the Los Angeles Rams might also engage in a bidding war over Cousins' services a year from now:

"I think you're going to see—unless the Vikings re-sign him by then, and they can't use the franchise tag on him, the way his contract is structured—you're going to see a potential tug of war between Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay for Kirk Cousins next March."

Of course, that'd be contingent on three related but different scenarios panning out for Shanahan and the 49ers between now and the start of the 2024 season:

1. Brock Purdy isn't the same after undergoing offseason elbow surgery
2. Niners lose all confidence in Trey Lance
3. Sam Darnold isn't it

Shanahan would have to check off all three of the above boxes to go after Cousins in that case, particularly if there's a bidding war with Los Angeles in a post-Matthew Stafford world with the Rams.

George Kittle gets Trey Lance some action at Tight End University

For the third year in a row, All-Pro tight end George Kittle has joined forces with former NFL tight end Greg Olsen and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce to uphold Tight End University, located in Nashville, Tennessee.

Kittle has stressed the need to bolster this position, particularly in light of so many wide receivers getting famous, and the three-day event has turned into quite the spectacle.

Lance was actually invited to partake in TEU, working as one of the quarterbacks tossing footballs to many of the tight ends in attendance.

And, of course, Lance got some much-appreciated screen time with Kittle helping narrate the way:

As Kittle and others point out, "quarterbacks are celebrated everyday" and shouldn't get a National Quarterbacks Day.

Kittle managed to put National Tight Ends Day on the map. Great for him, great for tight ends.

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