Free-agent quarterback Kirk Cousins plans to sign a three-year, fully guaranteed contract with the Minnesota Vikings, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The contract is expected to be worth $28 million per season, as per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, and would reportedly be the NFL’s first-ever fully guaranteed, multi-year deal for a quarterback. The deal would also make Cousins the highest-paid quarterback in the league.
The 29-year-old signal caller is coming off back-to-back seasons in which he was franchise-tagged by the Washington Redskins, receiving consecutive one-year deals of $19.9 million and $23.9 million in 2016 and 2017, respectively, according to Spotrac. Cousins has started every game in Washington for the past three seasons, throwing for more than 13,000 yards and 81 touchdown passes while leading the franchise to a 24-23-1 record and a post-season appearance in 2015.
The Vikings found themselves without a quarterback this off-season after all three from their 2017 roster — Case Keenum, Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater — hit free agency. A backup for most of his time in the NFL, Keenum led Minnesota to the NFC championship in January behind a career season before agreeing to sign with the Denver Broncos earlier Tuesday. Bradford and Bridgewater have yet to agree to new deals elsewhere.
Cousins’s guaranteed contract means he’ll have lofty expectations with the Vikings, a team looking to contend for a title after coming so close this past season. Cousins will be working under new Minnesota offensive co-ordinator John DeFilippo, the former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback coach who helped develop Carson Wentz and played a key role in the post-season performance of Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles.
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