Was the Mall of America Shake Shack enough to persuade Kirk Cousins to sign with the Vikings?

"This thing is over. Kirk Cousins has been telling people around him how much he likes the Vikings since Super Bowl week. This has always been his preferred destination."

Those are the words of The Athletic's Vikings reporter Jon Krawcynski, who has revealed that Kirk Cousins has long planned on picking the Vikings over the Jets and the Denver Broncos.

Now we know that the Vikings have some seriously sweet new digs down in Eagan, and have been showing off its training facility to NFL and Twin Cities media all this week.

But Cousins won't see it until Wednesday, so what could have made such an impression on the QB during his short-time in town for Super Bowl 52?

There's only one possible answer: he loves the Mall of America Shake Shack.

That's the only place we know for certain he visited when he was here for the Super Bowl – so we're quite happy to absolutely jump to conclusions and confidently state that the Shack was the difference maker.

Just check out how damn committed he was to his meal, shunning any questions so he could focus 100 percent on his burger.

There are Shake Shacks all over, sure, but it's clear the one at the Mall of America has some kind of magical hold over the ace.

It was while he was in Minneapolis that Cousins learned the Washington Redskins had traded for his replacement, Alex Smith, with the Washington Post reporting he was working out in his hotel room when the news broke.

So he was in Minnesota the moment he first realized he had to find a new team – with Krawcynski noting that he even started scouting out some homes while he was in town.

Now when he signs on Wednesday, he'll be the first to tell reporters that winning was the main reason he came to Minnesota.

But we know the real reason. Those deeeeelicious Shack burgers...