Kirk Cousins Flies the Coop and Becomes an Atlanta Falcon
Vikings Territory Breakdown Podcast
The new NFL League year started this week with the “legal tampering” period on Monday and the Vikings made a huge splash—but it was kind of a belly flop. Free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins bolted to Atlanta and is said to have agreed (he can’t sign it until Wednesday) to a 4-year, $180 million contract with a $50 million signing bonus and $100 million of it fully guaranteed. (He should be able to afford a new irrigation system at his golf course, now if he needs one.)
That is the big news. But what it does for Minnesota is free up some cap room for signing other free agents—and GM Kwesi Aldolfo-Mensah spent that money on bolstering up Brian Flores’ defense. He is reportedly bringing in Ex-Texans pass rusher Jonathan Greenard to four-year, $76 million deal, former Dolphins linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel—2 years for $20 million (from B-Flo’s first draft) and Eden Prairie-native and former Gopher linebacker Blake Cashman (a three-year deal worth up to $25.5 million).
The even bigger news is that Vikings are also reportedly signing former San Francisco QB Sam Darnold and Green Bay running back Aaron Jones to one-year contracts. The two players fill two gaping holes in the Vikings offensive backfield, so there probably isn’t much to talk about there, is there?
The Vikings also signed some of their own free agents (TEs Nick Muse and Johnny Mundt and offensive Blake Brandel and David Quessenberry. So the Purple got a big head start in free agency on Monday. There is certainly more to come—and the fellas at the Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast (Joe Oberle, senior writer at vikingsterritory.com and purplePTSD.com and Mark Craig, NFL and Vikings writer for the Star Tribune and startribune.com) are here to discuss it all. Tune in and check it out.
Vikings Appear Out on 1 Rookie QB