There’s the Kirk Cousins Update
The Minnesota Vikings and longtime quarterback Kirk Cousins could be in the final days of their employment. After six years with the veteran quarterback under contract, he is about to enter free agency without a new contract from the purple team for the first time since he joined the franchise in 2018.
There’s the Kirk Cousins Update
When the offseason began, everyone involved (Kevin O’Connell, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, and Cousins himself) talked like they wanted to get a deal done. Two months later with free agency right around the corner, they still haven’t found an agreement and fans are waiting for an update from one of the big-name reporters.
Well, one of those surfaced on Sunday through the words of Tom Pelissero on NFL Network:
The Vikings and Cousins’ agent remain in communication but at this point, it does appear the four-time Pro Bowl quarterback is going to hit the free agent market on Monday. Other teams I would expect to pursue Cousins do include the Atlanta Falcons and quite possibly the Denver Broncos as well. The Vikings are still in this, a deal could come together quickly assuming that the offer is right.
So what does an offer to Kirk Cousins look like? I would certainly anticipate that the average per year is going to be upwards of $40 million but structure is also really important, future guarantees are really important to a player who has played on a fully guaranteed deal for nine seasons in a row.
Tom Pelissero
The veteran has been expected for weeks to enter the legal tampering window on Monday. He, and his agent, can then legally talk to teams and gauge their interest. They can also talk numbers and agree to a contract which can be signed on Wednesday.
In January, Cousins said: “At this stage in my career, the dollars are really not what it’s about. I had a coach who I was with who was a younger coach at the time. This was back eight, nine years ago, before my first franchise tag, and we were talking about the situation and he made a great comment. He said, ‘Kirk, it’s not about the dollars, but it is about what the dollars represent.’ I thought that was an interesting comment that he made. There will always be some of that.”
He also added that the structure is more important than the salary. That is what Pelissero confirmed. It is quite possible that the franchise and Cousins mainly disagree on the contract length and the guaranteed money beyond the first season.
Cousins is coming off a wonderful 2023 season that ended prematurely because of his first significant injury. A torn Achilles sent him to IR and terminated all hopes for Minnesota to make a playoff run as the play from his backups was just not good enough to string wins together.
The veteran quarterback has been one of the most consistent players in the league throughout his tenure in the north and the franchise would surely miss him and his usual 4,000 passing yards and 25 touchdowns per season.
If he ultimately leaves the organization, his successor can be found in the free agency pool or the draft. The latter option is certainly the best way to acquire a potential franchise quarterback while the players in free agency are just stopgaps.
Cousins and the Vikes can sign a new contract at any point but his old deal will void on Wednesday and the Vikings are automatically on the hook for the deal cap hit of $28.5 million, whether he re-signs or not. A deal prior to that day allows GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to spread out that money.
More news about the 35-year-old should arrive on Monday.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and Classic rock is his music genre of choice. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt
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