The Minnesota Vikings imported Kirk Cousins in hopes the quarterback would get them over the hump and into the Super Bowl. Instead, the team regressed, missing the postseason completely.
Cousins understands the disappointment in his first season in Minnesota. When asked last week on the Dan Patrick Show if he considered the year a success, the signal-caller was blunt.
"The short answer is no," Cousins said, via Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "We didn't make the playoffs. There were high expectations and we didn't deliver, and so I've been frustrated since the season ended."
Despite the propensity to flounder in primetime games, Cousins put up better numbers than Case Keenum did in a similar situation the previous year. Cousins finished with 4,298 passing yards (10th in the NFL) and 30 TDs to 10 INTs, while being sacked 40 times behind a porous offensive line.
Yet, the inability of the $84 million QB to raise the talent level around him to new heights continues to haunt Cousins.
"I wish the 2019 season started tomorrow," he said. "I'm ready to go and make amends for 2018. It's been frustrating to know I have to sit here for whatever it is, seven or eight months before we get back at it.
"It has been a tough January for me. I haven't been sleeping well, that kind of a thing, because, yeah, it just left a bad taste in my mouth the way the season finished up."