Kirk Cousins, quarterback, joined the Minnesota Vikings and signed a contract that could revolutionize the free agency negotiations. How does this change the situation of the Vikings, what happens with the offense and what does the deal mean for the quarterbacks who will join the Free Agency in the future? SPOX looks at the five most important questions about the cousins deal.
The Vikings have committed themselves to the quarterback of their next three seasons and have reached deep into their pockets. So deep that it will in any case affect other future plans: the contract is worth 84 million dollars. For the first time in league history, a deal at this level is fully guaranteed.
These numbers will require Minnesota’s skillful and cautious salary cap management around cousins. Already in the coming season, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Stefon Diggs and Danielle Hunter will start the last year of the contract with a number of important pillars that have proven that they are entitled to good contracts, not least in the successful pre-season.
So what’s the situation for the Vikings under the Cousins contract?
Cap Space of 27.3 million dollars is still available for the current Free Agency. So much so that in addition to the reserves for the new rookie contracts, defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson was actually able to lure another high-carat player to Minneapolis. Richardson will collect eight million dollars in 2018 under a one-year contract.
Looking at this season’s salary cap, Cousins’ contract accounts for 13.6 percent of total capacity. Assuming a salary cap increase of around ten million dollars for the next two years, cousins would account for 15.5 percent of the total budget in 2019 and 15.7 percent in 2020.
Certainly high percentages, but not out of line compared to other major quarterback deals in the recent past. As things stand at present, Cousins Cap Hit 2018 is the sixth highest of the QBs in the league. As things stand, it ranks 3rd in 2019 and 2nd in 2020. Here, however, several more big deals for Aaron Rodgers or Matt Ryan cousins will slide down.
The figures that will appear in the books for cousins in the next few years seem harder at first glance than they are in the case of the Vikings. Before the cousins deal, they were in a very good cap situation and separated from all three quarterbacks of the previous season. This allowed further room for manoeuvre for the Richardson deal, for example, but also to tackle the upcoming renewals in the coming season.
Page 1: What happens to the expiring contracts in Minnesota next year?
Page 2: Are the Vikings really better than with Keenum?
Page 3: What does Cousins bring?
Page 4: What happens in the Vkings-Offense?
Page 5: How is the deal structured and what does it mean for other quarterbacks?