Minnesota Vikings: Kirk Cousins contract a bargain after Patrick Mahomes deal
Is Kirk Cousins a bargain for the Vikings in light of Patrick Mahomes’ new deal?
In 2018, Kirk Cousins became the highest-paid player in NFL history by average annual value when he left Washington to join the Minnesota Vikings in free agency. The contract that Cousins signed with the Vikings was somewhat of a shocking deal agreed upon at the time, with the quarterback inking a fully guaranteed contract of three years, $84 million.
After a few seasons of being pegged with a franchise tag in Washington, Cousins was looking for a fully guaranteed contract in free agency that paid him handsomely and Minnesota stepped up to offer the veteran player a deal he was searching for to take over under center for the Vikings.
That $84 million fully guaranteed contract, which averaged out to pay Cousins roughly $28 million a season over the three-year span, surpassed the previous record of guarantees given to a player handed out to Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford ($60.5 million guaranteed) in 2017.
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That contract given to Cousins was initially viewed as a huge deal and both Minnesota and Cousins came under some scrutiny and pressure right out of the gate after he signed on the dotted lines to join the Vikings. But just two years later, that deal and Cousins’ current contract might actually have been a bargain deal for Minnesota.
This week, Kansas City Chiefs and their star quarterback Patrick Mahomes agreed to a mega-deal that will keep the quarterback in Kansas City through the 2031 season and lands him the largest contract in North American sports history. Mahomes already had two years remaining on his contract with the Chiefs, but agreed to a 10-year extension worth up to about $503 million by the conclusion of it.
Outside of incentives, Mahomes will reportedly average about $47 million per season to lead Kansas City moving forward.
Since Cousins became the highest-paid quarterback and NFL player back in 2018, there have been other players who have also received even bigger deals than the Vikings quarterback. Even though the guaranteed dollars might not be to the same extent.
Cousins’ deal with the Vikings keeps getting better and better.
In 2019, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan inked a five-year, $150 million deal, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson signed a four-year, $140 million deal and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff signed a four-year, $134 million contract.
The year prior, in 2018, the Chicago Bears signed linebacker Khalil Mack to a six-year, $161 million deal, the Rams signed Aaron Donald to a six-year, $135 million contract and the Green Bay Packers extended quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ contract four years worth $134 million.
Looking back, that Cousins contract from 2018 doesn’t look too bad. And it actually looks like a good deal for the Vikings to have made.
This offseason leading into the 2020 NFL season, Cousins and Minnesota agreed to a two-year, $66 million contract extension. The quarterback will make roughly $33 million per season over that span.
Looking at other quarterbacks in the NFL, Cousins’ annual contract is just the sixth-largest among other players solely at that position, trailing Mahomes ($47 million per year), Wilson ($35 million per year), Ben Roethlisberger ($34 million per year), Rodgers ($33.5 million per year) and Goff ($33.5 million per year).
Since Cousins has arrived in Minnesota, he has been a solid addition to the offense that looks to continue to improve in 2020 and beyond with the quarterback leading the charge under center.
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And although the contract both sides agreed to back in 2018 looked to be large and somewhat surprising at the time, just two years later, that deal looks like it may have been a bargain and allowed the Vikings to jump out ahead of the rest of the NFL to shore up an area of need at the center of the offensive unit.