Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.com reports that the Jets are worried that free agent QB Kirk Cousins might already be destined to sign with the Vikings no matter much money they offer.
Even so, the Jets plan to be “heavy bidders” for Cousins in the coming weeks and are in the best position to make him a massive contract offer. Vacchiano says that the Jets are willing to “throw a truckload of money and a heavily front-loaded contract” but are also aware of the buzz he could be headed to Minnesota.
Vacchiano’s source mentioned that New York is worried enough that they’re taking seriously the “Plans B and C and, if possible, D” Jets HC Todd Bowles mentioned last week.
While the Jets feel like they can offer the best contract structure, they still think he could sign with the Vikings, given that they’re in a better position to win now.
- Yesterday, Adam Schefter reported that the final four teams expected to be vying for Cousins are the Broncos, Cardinals, Jets and Vikings.
- Mike Jurecki is hearing that Cousins is looking for a three-year deal with $90 million guaranteed.
- Regarding the Cardinals’ interest, Jureski says that Cousins has better options and Arizona just has too many holes on offense to fill to afford Cousins.
Many around the NFL have said that Cousins could end up securing as much as $30 million per year as part of a long-term extension, making him the highest-paid player in NFL history, but it sounds like he’s open to other contract structures.
The expectation is that Cousins will take his time and meet with multiple teams once free agency opens.
Cousins, 29, is a former fourth-round pick of the Redskins back in 2012. He played out the final year of his four-year, $2,572,688 rookie contract that included a $472,688 signing bonus when Washington elected to use the franchise tag on Cousins that paid him $19.953 million fully guaranteed for the 2016 season.
The Redskins franchised him for the second year in a row this last year and he made $23.94 million fully guaranteed for the 2017 season.
In 2017, Cousins has appeared in all 16 games and thrown for 4,093 yards while completing 64.3percent of his passes to go along with 27 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He’s also rushed for 179 yards and four touchdowns. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 20 quarterback out of 40 qualifying players.
We have him featured in our Top 100 – 2018 NFL Free Agents list.
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