Kirk Cousins made history when he inked a three-year, fully-guaranteed $84MM contract with the Vikings. However, it sounds like the quarterback may have left some money on the table. Agent Mike McCartney told Chad Graff of The Athletic that Cousins didn’t take the best deal before signing with Minnesota.
“We didn’t take the best offer,” McCartney said (via Twitter). “Not even close.”
It’s unknown who Cousins specifically rejected. The Jets, Cardinals, and Broncos had all expressed interest in the quarterback. Considering New York’s cap space, it’s easy to assume that the Jets may have had the highest offer on the table, but that’s just my speculation.
The $28MM annual salary for Cousins was a bit shy of what we expected, but the guaranteed money ultimately proved to be unprecedented. Our own Zach Links had previously speculated that Cousins could have had better offers on the table, but surmised that he leaned towards the Vikings since they would give him an opportunity to win right away.
The 29-year-old Cousins finished last season having completed 64.3-percent of his passes for 4,093 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions.
Nice I’m a Vike s fan
Overall it will be a great 5 year run of salaries for Cousins after this deal is finished and he will still be young-ish.
Pure guess he said no to the jets….can’t blame him….it’s hard to follow a butt fumble
Likely it was the unique tax situation between Michigan and Minnesota that allows Cousins to pay less taxes working in Mn and owning a home in Michigan. He will take home more of his paycheck playing for the Vikings than if he signed with another team like New York.
In other words the jets HAD to offer more just to break even with how much take home pay Cousins would have after paying taxes.
Agreed. I don’t think the Jets offered a fully guaranteed deal, but they probably offered him a 4-5 year deal with about the same amount of guaranteed money.