NFL Rumors: Vikings’ Kirk Cousins Eying $90M Guaranteed over 2 Years in FA Contract
Kirk Cousins isn’t going to come cheap for either the Minnesota Vikings or prospective suitors in free agency this offseason.
Charley Walters the Pioneer Press reported Saturday that the “buzz now is that it will take $90 million guaranteed for two years, despite that he’s still not yet fully recovered from Achilles surgery in November, to sign [Cousins]. If that’s the case, he certainly won’t get that from the Vikings.”
Cousins, 35, was having an excellent season before tearing his Achilles, throwing for 2,331 yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions in eight games while completing 69.5 percent of his passes and taking 17 sacks.
Cousins was on track for a fifth Pro Bowl bid and had the Vikings at 4-4 on the season. The team won the next two games under Josh Dobbs before losing six of their final seven games. The team eventually settled on Nick Mullens, but it’s clear that if Cousins doesn’t return next season, the team has a huge hole to fill at quarterback.
The team will have the No. 11 pick, putting them within the range to potentially seek a trade up the board to land one of the top options or simply wait to see if a second-tier option at the draft falls to them.
If Cousins is too expensive, the team could also go for a shorter-term solution in free agency like Baker Mayfield, who seemed revitalized in 2023 on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Minnesota is a good landing spot for any prospective quarterback addition given the presence of talented pass-catchers in Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson.
Retaining Cousins would obviously be ideal, though paying him $45 million a season—which would tie him with Patrick Mahomes in average annual value and tie for eighth in the NFL overall—would be less appealing.
But the going rate for quarterbacks has inflated dramatically, and Cousins hasn’t been consistently solid for the Vikings. If the team doesn’t have a succession plan in place it feels comfortable with, splashing the cash in the short term may end up being the best option.
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