Great News For Michigan State & NFL Minnesota Vikings Kirk Cousins
While NFL free agents were preparing to cash in on deals with potential new teams, former Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins locked up a lucrative contract extension with the Minnesota Vikings just before the NFL free agency tampering period opened on Monday.
Cousins, who still had one year left on his three-year, $84 million deal that he signed with the Vikings back in 2018, agreed to a two-year contract extension worth $66 million dollars. Spartan Nation reached out to Cousins about the deal. The agreement brings the full deal to 3 years and $96 million with $61 million guaranteed at signing.
Rated as just a 2-star recruit coming out of high school before joining Michigan State, Cousins stepped into the starting quarterback position during his redshirt sophomore season in 2009 and would go on to start 39 games for the Spartans and left the program as Michigan State’s all-time winningest quarterback after posting a 27-12 record.
Cousins, who was a Michigan State captain three times, guided Michigan State to the first-ever Big Ten Championship Game in 2011 and an 11-3 record on his way to being named Second Team All-Big Ten by the Big Ten coaches.
After graduating from Michigan State, Cousins was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the fourth round (No. 102 overall) in the 2012 NFL Draft. Cousins spent five years with the Redskins, starting 56 games for Washington and led the NFL with 4,917 passing yards in 2016. Cousins elected to become a free agent following the 2017 season.
My training partner for the day! pic.twitter.com/OSEAYQ78vk
— Kirk Cousins (@KirkCousins8) February 28, 2020
In 2018, the Vikings made Cousins the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history, signing him to a fully-guaranteed contract worth $84 million dollars over three years. Cousins contract with Minnesota was the first-ever fully guaranteed contract in NFL history.
Following a 2018 season where he didn’t quite meet expectations, Cousins had a bounce-back 2019 season where he guided the Vikings to a wild card round win over the New Orleans Saints before falling to San Francisco in the Divisional round. Cousins threw for 3,603 yards and 26 touchdowns and just three interceptions in 2019, earning him the two-year, $66 million extension he signed on Monday.
Check back to Spartan Nation for all of the latest news on Cousins and the Spartans!
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