The Minnesota Vikings were in a tough spot when it came to the salary cap heading into the offseason. One of the possibilities to alleviate those cap issues were trading starting quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Cousins was in the final year of his contract and was set to cost $40 million against the cap. That would not be an easy number to trade, but given how many teams were in the market for quarterback help this offseason, a franchise would have made the necessary moves to accommodate him.
Luckily for the Vikings, it didn’t come to that. Instead, the two sides agreed to a contract extension. Cousins agreed to a deal that will pay him $35 million guaranteed next season. He will end up making $30 million, as there were two voidable years added to the end of the deal to help this year’s cap number to $31.25 million.
While that is still a lot of money, the Vikings saved some much-needed money with the move. It was part of the reason that they were to afford to sign pass rusher Za’Darius Smith, who had originally agreed to terms with the Baltimore Ravens before changing course and joining the Vikings.
Cousins will certainly be with the Vikings in 2022 and possibly 2023 as well given the extension unless a team trades for him next offseason. If Cousins has his way, he will remain with the organization a lot longer than that.
That is a lofty goal for Cousins to have, but one that is certainly attainable. It is hard finding a good starting quarterback, so once a team has one, they will usually do whatever they can to keep him around. Minnesota has been unable to get over the hump since Cousins joined the team to be their starting quarterback, but he is far from the only reason they haven’t found as much playoff success.
Cousins is four games over .500 with the Vikings in four seasons. The team is in a good position to bounce back in 2022 and compete for a playoff spot once again. With Cousins at the helm, the offense should once again be a strong unit as Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook are one of the best skill position trios in the NFL.
