Vikings' Cap Conversion on Kirk Cousins' Contract Creates $16 Million in Space
The Vikings are using a cap conversion on Kirk Cousins' contract to create $16 million in cap space, according Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune.
What does that mean? It means they're taking Cousins' $20 million roster bonus and spreading it across this season and the two void years on his contract, plus two additional new void years. That pushes $4 million into each of those void years (2024-27), helping the Vikings get cap compliant now.
What it also means is that if Cousins isn't extended and his deal voids after this season, the Vikings will have $28.5 million dead money in 2024 due to his contract. That's the $16 million hitting the books, as well as $12.5 million in signing bonus prorations that were already spread out into the two original void years.
It's an interesting move. In a sense, it doesn't really fit with what the Vikings have been doing recently, which is trying to clean out their books this year and free up space to have flexibility in 2024. For example, they chose to take on over $13 million in dead money in 2023 after releasing Adam Thielen without a post-June 1 designation that would've spread half of that into '24.
However, the Vikings need to create space now to become cap compliant, and Cousins' contract is one of the main avenues to do so.
An extension can't be completely ruled out, but it continues to look like the most likely outcome is the Vikings allowing Cousins' deal to void after this season.
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