Kirk Cousins, who is over thirty-six years old and recovering from surgery to repair a torn right Achilles tendon, stated he would accept a little less in exchange for playing for the Minnesota Vikings once again. If the Vikings agree to pay Cousins’ asking price of $90 million through 2025, he would forego free agency and play for the team for the next two seasons, according to a report in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Although it might seem like a steep price to pay, Cousins’ average salary on his current contract with the Vikings ranked No. 15 at $35 million. He would be the seventh player in the league between Josh Allen (Bills, $47.1 million cap number in 2024) and him if he secures another guaranteed contract and the 2024 cap hit is $45 million.
Cap gymnastics make it feasible to reduce Cousins’ cap figure to a more palatable number for next season. But the Vikings also have critical contracts to negotiate with wide receiver Justin Jefferson and edge rusher Danielle Hunter, among others.
Cousins said he would focus in free agency mostly on “structure,” and not salary when his contract automatically voids in March.
“Everything that isn’t the dollars,” Cousins said when asked to elaborate on his definition of structure. “That stuff you also work through.”
Among teams potentially in the market for a quarterback this offseason, Cousins’ previous team, the Washington Commanders are projected to have the most cap space at nearly $77 million. New England has space — projected at nearly $66 million — but the Patriots are expected to closely consider top available quarterbacks in the draft with the No. 3 overall pick.
“I’m not going to try to sell myself, if you will. I kind of like to let people make their own decisions, because I do think the league needs quarterbacks, and if you’re trying to talk yourself out of a quarterback, then I can’t help you much,” Cousins said last month. “The Achilles is going to heal. And it’s on track, and I’m a pocket passer and there’s a lot of time before next season. For a lot of reasons, it doesn’t concern me, but if I can’t convince other people of that, then that’s OK.”
Cousins will be 36 before playing his next regular-season snap. A fourth-round pick in 2012, he was tied for the NFL lead with 18 touchdown passes when he suffered the Achilles injury eight weeks into the 2023 season.
Jefferson is owed $19.7 million on his fifth-year option, the last year of his rookie contract, and is a lock to become the fifth active wide receiver with a contract over $100 million. Raiders star Davante Adams is the NFL’s highest-paid receiver with a $140 million total contract value, but Dolphins All-Pro Tyreek Hill leads in average annual value at $30 million (Adams stands at $28M per, Rams’ Cooper Kupp averages $26.7M, and A.J. Brown draws $25M per year from the Eagles).
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