The Potential of a Kirk Cousins Extension in Minnesota

My friend Andy Carlson had me on his Purple FTW! Podcast to discuss the potential for a Kirk Cousins extension with Minnesota. I go into detail regarding his performance this year, the quarterback market, and the way his three-year guaranteed contract structure could re-shape the way quarterback deals are negotiated.

Andy and I will be working together moving forward to craft more YouTube videos of this kind of quality thanks to Andy’s terrific editing and production skills.

If you want to listen on iTunes, you can click through here. SoundCloud here.

Cousins’ signed for $28 million per year with his 2018 contract and the market is now at $35 million per year with Russell Wilson’s deal that was signed just 13 months later.

Rather than being on a traditional five-year contract that would have him asking for an extension after three years, he’s in a position to demand whatever he pleases.

My perspective is that, considering the Vikings are currently projected to be $10 million over the 2020 salary cap with three or four free agent defensive backs they will have to make decisions on re-signing, he could agree to an extension for $35 million per year guaranteed starting in 2021.

The contract would be a simple extension tacked on to the last year of his previous contract, but guarantee him $105 million more, which would benefit the Vikings in terms of securing him below the $40 million or more that he might demand in free agency in 2021 after Dak Prescott, Patrick Mahomes, and/or Deshaun Watson agree to new terms and push the market even higher.

As Jason Fitzgerald pointed out, the benefit of waiting to make it to 2021 could be substantial for Cousins. As many as 14 or 15 teams could need quarterbacks.

Another factor in this decision for Cousins is what is important to him. He has played in a bad organization before with the team from Washington DC and has expressed his desire to win. Minnesota is a strong organization from the front office to the coaching staff that can be relied on to put him and his team in position to succeed.

By the conclusion of the 2020 season, Cousins will have made $130.5 million in on field earnings. It’s up to him to decide what he wants next.

Zack Moore is a certified NFL agent, a writer for OverTheCap.com and OnnitGymMMA.com, as well as the author of “Caponomics: Building Super Bowl Champions,” a book that breaks down how Super Bowl champions are built in the NFL’s salary cap era and discusses how NFL front offices can best allocate resources to create successful teams.

You can follow him on Twitter at @ZackMooreNFL. You can subscribe to The Zack Moore Show podcast here. You can subscribe on YouTube here.