If a Kirk Cousins extension is coming it needs to happen very soon
In the last four days the NFL has seen Derek Carr, Geno Smith and Daniel Jones all get paid. Meanwhile, the likes of Lamar Jackson, Aaron Rodgers, Jimmy Garoppolo, Baker Mayfield and Kirk Cousins have their futures still up in the air.
What the Vikings should do with Cousins has been a question that's seemingly lingered over the franchise for the past three years, at least. Turning 35 in August, Cousins is set to enter the final year of a two-year extension he signed last offseason.
His cap hit is set to be a whopping $36.25 million with the Vikings, and with Minnesota still around $14 million over the cap (per OverTheCap) Minnesota is likely looking at more cuts in the coming days and a solution to the Cousins situation.
Will they sign him to an extension or let him play out the the final year of his contract without any future guarantees? Will Cousins even accept playing without future guarantees?
Either way, the new NFL league year begins March 15 and teams can start talking to prospective free agents on March 12. So when should fans expect the Vikings to make a decision on Cousins? Will it happened before March 15? Does it need to happen before March 15?
"It feels like the answer is either very soon or not at all," says Purple Insider's Matthew Coller. "If they do just let the contract run through next year and then plan to move on from him, maybe draft a quarterback this year or next year, they're going to have to do a lot of work on the salary cap."
Minnesota being over the cap puts them in a difficult position. They've openly admitted they hope to bring back defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, and they have big decisions to make about re-signing center Garrett Bradbury and perhaps luring cornerback Patrick Peterson back for another season.
Signing Cousins to an extension would provide immediate cap relief to help make some of those moves possible, whereas making him play out the final year of his deal keeps his $36 million cap hit on the books this year.
The other option if an extension or playing on a lame duck contract don't work? A trade.
There's always the nuclear option which could be shopping Kirk Cousins and attempting to trade him if he says he doesn't want to sign a short-term contract to lower his salary cap hit," said Coller.
"The answer is any time now. Any time now if they're going to do it," Coller reiterated about an extension. "But if they don't by next week then an extension probably isn't going to happen."
