Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins enters the 2023 season in a contract year. Though he’s signed three short-term deals with the NFC North club, an NFL insider suggests that it’ll be different next time.
In 2018, Cousins signed a three-year deal worth a fully guaranteed $84 million. In 2020, he signed a two-year, $66 million extension. And last offseason, he agreed to a one-year extension worth $35 million.
On NFL Network, Tom Pelissero (h/t Will Ragatz from FanNation’s Inside The Vikings) stated that he “would not anticipate” another extension of just one year:
“I would not anticipate that there’s another one-year extension here. Either the Vikings and Kirk Cousins do a long-term extension that locks him up as their franchise quarterback, or, potentially, they keep their options open and let Cousins play out this existing deal.”
Cousins is a difficult case for the Vikings. On one hand, his stats have been very good, and they’ve gone to the postseason twice with him at the helm.
On the other hand, his record against teams with winning records has been well-documented. Also, in five years of Cousins, Minnesota has just one playoff win. The Vikings paid him $84 million in 2018 less than two months after reaching the AFC Championship Game with career journeyman Case Keenum, so it was essentially Super Bowl-or-bust once Cousins came aboard.
Cousins is a four-time Pro Bowler with a record of 46-33-1 with the Vikings. He has thrown for over 4,000 yards as a Viking four times, and for 30-plus touchdowns three times. The stats have been consistent, but Minnesota simply has to decide if he’s the quarterback who can get this team over the playoff hump once and for all.
