Cousins completed 33 of 44 passes for 344 yards with two touchdowns and one interception while adding three rushes for seven yards in the Vikings' 20-17 loss to the Buccaneers on Sunday. He also lost two fumbles.

EDGE Analysis

The Vikings' day was essentially an ongoing contradiction between the stat sheet and the scoreboard, and Cousins' performance was a fitting microcosm of such. The veteran signal-caller was highly efficient while averaging 7.8 yards per attempt, and his passing yardage total was more than those from all but three of his games from last season. However, Cousins' pair of first-quarter fumbles were each damaging, with the first short-circuiting a drive that had reached the Buccaneers' 26-yard line and the second coming at his own 21-yard line and leading to a Tampa Bay field goal. Cousins did encouragingly connect with rookie first-round pick and new No. 2 receiver Jordan Addison for a 39-yard touchdown among his two scores, but he'll have an uphill battle to replicate his performance with a Week 2 Thursday night road matchup against the Eagles on tap.

Cousins isn't likely to play in Thursday's preseason opener against the Seahawks, according to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune.

EDGE Analysis

Goessling suggests that it's unlikely the Vikings will play many established players versus Seattle, with Cousins and Justin Jefferson likely to be spectators Thursday. Assuming that's the case, Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall will be available to handle the team's QB reps.

Cousins said Wednesday that he doesn't expect to discuss a new contract with the Vikings until next offseason, ESPN's Kevin Seifert reports.

EDGE Analysis

Cousins is in the final season of his contract and said he wants to finish his career in Minnesota, but the Vikings seemingly want to take it year by year at this point rather than making another long-term commitment. His passing efficiency stats dropped last season in his first year under coach Kevin O'Connell, with a career-high 643 attempts somewhat allowing the QB to make up for it from a fantasy standpoint. Cousins turns 35 in August and should get plenty of volume again after the Vikings replaced Adam Thielen with first-round pick Jordan Addison and released RB Dalvin Cook.

The Vikings aren't committed to Cousins beyond 2023, as his recent restructure pushes more of the cap hit to future years without changing the length of the contract, Chip Scoggins of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

EDGE Analysis

The team used void years rather than an extension, but another contract could still happen next offseason or even later this year. While the Vikings hope to find a young quarterback to develop behind their 34-year-old, long-time starter, there's no guarantee of finding the right player this spring or next, especially without the luxury of an early first-round pick. Minnesota's offense largely looks the same as last year through the first few days of the 2023 league year, with the exception of Adam Thielen leaving and blocking tight end Josh Oliver coming over from Baltimore. Quarterback and wide receiver are two of the positions Minnesota could target early in the 2023 Draft, though in terms of filling short-term gaps it's the defense that needs more help. Either way, Cousins is year-to-year with the Vikings, which arguably was the case even before this offseason.

Cousins completed 31 of 39 pass attempts for 273 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday's 31-24 wild-card round loss to the Giants. He also punched in a one-yard touchdown on his lone rushing attempt.

EDGE Analysis

Cousins was dialed in throughout the contest, providing strong numbers for fantasy lineups despite taking the loss. The veteran signal-caller's day soured on the Vikings' final drive when he targeted a covered receiver for three yards on 4th-and-8, effectively turning the ball over and ending Minnesota's Super Bowl hopes. The 34-year-old finished the regular season with 4,547 passing yards and a 29:14 TD:INT ratio, numbers that should keep him ranked in the upper third of fantasy quarterbacks as we look towards next year. Cousins and his top offensive weapons are all under contract for 2023, so this core will attempt to run it back with a deeper playoff run next season.

Cousins completed 17 of 20 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 29-13 win over the Bears.

EDGE Analysis

Cousins' output came despite him only playing the first half of Sunday's game. With Minnesota preparing for the playoffs, backup Nick Mullens filled in while Cousins was rested after halftime. In the wake of a poor performance in Green Bay last weekend, Cousins' improvement Sunday -- when he set a season high for completion percentage -- should help his confidence heading into the postseason.

Head coach Kevin O'Connell intimated Friday that Cousins and other key starters on offense and defense may not play the entirety of the Vikings' Week 18 game in Chicago, Joe Nelson of SI.com reports. "We've got a pretty clear cut plan with how we want to go about the whole game, but we're going to go in with the expectation of our guys going and try to get off to a good start and play good football," O'Connell said.

EDGE Analysis

Minnesota is assured no worse than the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs regardless of how this weekend's games transpire, but since the Vikings will need a win over the Bears plus a Cardinals win over the heavily-favored 49ers to climb to the No. 2 seed, O'Connell may not have much incentive to expose key players to an injury heading into the wild-card round. While Cousins and all of the Vikings' other starting skill-position players look poised to play at least one series, the uncertainty of whether they'll play much beyond that makes it tough to reliably project any in Week 18 season-long or DFS lineups.

Cousins completed 18 of 31 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown with three interceptions in Sunday's 41-17 loss to the Packers. He added 37 rushing yards and three carries.

EDGE Analysis

It was a rough day for the entire Vikings offense at Lambeau Field, as Cousins lost two offensive linemen in injuries during the game and had little time or space in which to operate. He was replaced by Nick Mullens late in the rout, as the Vikings prioritized keeping Cousins healthy ahead of the playoffs, and with nothing but seeding to play for in Week 18 against the Bears, it wouldn't be surprising if Mullens got the start.

Cousins completed 34 of 48 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday's 27-24 win over the Giants.

EDGE Analysis

While the veteran QB didn't quite manage to throw for 400 yards, or even 300, for a third straight game, Cousins still tossed three more touchdowns, giving him a 13:3 TD:INT over the last five contests. He's reached 4,000 passing yards for the third straight season and the seventh time in the last eight years, and Cousins will take massive momentum into a Week 17 clash with the Packers.

Cousins completed 34 of 54 passes for 460 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions in Saturday's 39-36 overtime win over the Colts.

EDGE Analysis

Everything that could go wrong did for the Vikings as they fell behind 33-0 in the first half, including a Cousins pick-six. In the third quarter, Cousins connected with K.J. Osborn for a 63-yard gain and a two-yard touchdown to get Minnesota on the board with the first of three consecutive Vikings touchdown drives. Cousins capped the third of those drives with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson before derailing the following possession with his second interception. The veteran quarterback bounced back with touchdown passes to Adam Thielen (one yard) and Dalvin Cook (64 yards), the latter of which Cousins followed with a two-point conversion to T.J. Hockenson to tie the score at 36-36. A field goal in the final minute of overtime capped the historic comeback (the largest in NFL history) and improved Minnesota's record to 11-3 heading into a Week 16 visit from the Giants.