Report: Kirk Cousins wanted three years, Vikings turned him down

The Vikings are keeping their options open at quarterback

With his contract coming down to the final year, Kirk Cousins asked the Vikings for three more years and guaranteed money – and the Vikings turned him down, according to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune.

"The sense I've gotten is that they didn't want to commit as long as what he was looking for. They wanted something shorter, he wanted something longer. My understanding is that 2025 was the issue," said Goessling on the latest Access Vikings podcast. "The question of how long would everyone guarantee it for. I think he wanted '25, they were like 'well, we don't want to commit that long.' He'd be 37 before the 2025 season so it gets to be later in the game than you want to fully guarantee a quarterback deal."

Instead of giving Cousins three more guaranteed years, the Vikings opted to restructure his deal by converting part of his base salary into a bonus, which trimmed about $16 million from Cousins' 2023 cap hit. The conversion comes with the possibility of a $28 million dead cap hit in 2024 if Cousins is not on the roster.

"They are at least willing to look at the possibility of 'Do we go to a bridge starter? Do we go to a younger quarterback,'" continued Goessling. "They're willing to look at their options in conjunction with Kirk Cousins rather than just committing to him for the next three or four years."

Podcast co-host Andrew Krammer followed up saying her heard Cousins "wasn't asking for $40 million." That's significant because it's the price the New York Giants paid to extend Daniel Jones. 

Jones signed a four-year, $160 million deal this offseason with the Giants. Jones's cap hit in 2023 is $21 million before jumping to $45 million in '24, $39.5 million in '25, and $56 million in '26, according to Over The Cap.

"Cousins's camp was surprised, from what I heard, at the Vikings not jumping, or not accepting more of what they were asking for," said Krammer.

According to Over The Cap, the Vikings are just $552,868 under the cap (at the time this story was published).