Former Vikings football player claims Mike Zimmer did not like Kirk Cousins and did not respect him

Mike Zimmer is no longer the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings and now a former Vikings player is coming on record to say he does not think Zimmer ever really respected Cousins.

Ben Leber the former Vikings linebacker feels the Vikings are in good hands with Kirk Cousins and also feels Mike Zimmer had an issue with Cousins as his quarterback.

“I think he’s gonna finally thrive, really thrive, in a system and a coach that actually respects him,” Leber told Zach Gelb of CBS Sports Radio. “I mean, It’s not like I’m not breaking news here that Mike Zimmer did not like Kirk Cousins. And I think that showed in the way that Kirk behaved and the way that he carried himself. The team was never given to him, or he was never allowed to earn the trust of the team, because the head coach I think just didn’t like him.”

Remember Cousins joined the Vikings in 2018 on a fully-guaranteed deal where Zimmer had been the coach since 2014. They would go on to win 33 games and lose 31.

Leber would go on to say the defensive guru Mike Zimmer did not necessarily step up.

“That was a top-10 offense last year, with a very green, first-time offensive coordinator [Klint Kubiak],” he said. “Where was their defense ranked last year? Thirty-first. The year before that, I think they were ranked 27th. So people can rail on Kirk and rail on this offense and say we can’t win with him or we can’t win with this offense. 

“I say that’s total BS. We couldn’t win with the crap defense that we’ve had the last two years. We couldn’t stop the run, at all — ever — and then in key moments of the games … we couldn’t stop any two-minute offense. So, to me, the biggest liability of this team has been defense.”

I actually agree with Leber on this one. What do you think? Can the Vikings turn it around in 2022?