Vikings Will Be Players For Kirk Cousins In Free Agency

Mike Garafolo of NFL Media says that the Vikings will be players in the market for QB Kirk Cousins based on his conversations with sources.

“The Minnesota Vikings are going to be players for Kirk Cousins,” Garafolo said. “I have been told that by numerous sources the whole way. I’m not saying they’re going to land him. I do believe that they have a great pitch to make to him as far as look at our defense, look at our targets, look at everything we’ve got. You can come in here and compete right away.

“The money is going to be what the money is going to be, we’ve talked about upwards of $30 million per season because you rarely see a quarterback like this hit the open market. But the Minnesota Vikings are going to make a strong push for Kirk Cousins, you can absolutely bet.”

Ian Rapoport also said that Minnesota will pursue Cousins “hard” this offseason.

“They are going to pursue Cousins hard,” Rapoport said. “And from what I am told, the Minnesota Vikings have a legitimate and very real chance at Kirk Cousins. And of course, so much of the allure of them as far as Cousins would be concerned is just the team that they have on the field already. They reached the NFC title game with Keenum as quarterback and they have a defense that’s ready-made and going to be there for years. They have two big-time receivers, they have two big-time running backs. There’s a lot to like as far as the Vikings and Cousins goes.”

The Vikings should have plenty to offer Cousins in free agency, considering that they made it the NFC Championship game and have a talented roster on both sides of the ball. If the money is right, it could be difficult for Cousins to pass up this opportunity, barring a crazy offer from another team.

The Jets and Browns have also been tossed out as potential landing spots for Cousins.

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.