Could the Minnesota Vikings pursue Russell Wilson as a potential Kirk Cousins replacement this offseason?
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says it would be a very economical option.
How would signing Wilson be economical?
Well, if and when the Denver Broncos cut Wilson, they would still have to pay him $39 million from his fully guaranteed compensation package in 2024.
So, no matter what Wilson signs for, he will make $39 million next season. That means he could sign a veteran’s minimum contract of $1.21 million and still rake in big money.
Florio suggests that the Vikings allow Cousins to walk and ink Wilson to a cheap deal, which would actually make plenty of sense given how well Wilson played this past season.
It’s not like Wilson was a bum in 2023. He threw for 3,070 yards, 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 66.4 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 98 before being benched with two weeks left in the regular season because he declined to defer his injury guarantee.
The 35-year-old showed he can still play, so there is no reason why quarterback-needy teams would not be interested in Wilson once the Broncos part ways with him.
Cousins is set to be a free agent in his own right in the coming weeks, and it’s looking more and more like he may end up pricing himself out of Minnesota’s range.
The Vikings have steadily maintained that they would like to keep Cousins, but not at the expense of their long-term financial flexibility.
If they are able to sign Wilson for the veteran’s minimum, it would barely even make a decent in the team’s cap situation and they would still be able to address other areas of need.
We’ll see if Minnesota tries to take a swing at Russell Wilson next month.
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