Vikings Sign Kirk Cousins to One-Year, $35 Million Contract Extension
The Vikings have signed quarterback Kirk Cousins to a one-year, $35 million contract extension, as first announced by his agent Mike McCartney.
New GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and HC Kevin O’Connell have publicly said that Cousins their quarterback in recent weeks, and now they’ve committed to him for the next two years. The deal is fully guaranteed and comes with a no-trade clause.
For the Vikings, this move saves roughly $14 million on their 2022 salary cap, nearly getting them under the cap. It also means Cousins is no longer entering a contract year. O’Connell has said that he’s excited to coach Cousins and build an offense for him, and now he gets to do that. The Vikings reportedly received calls from teams interested in Cousins this offseason, but decided to keep him in Minnesota.
By signing him to a one-year extension, the Vikings aren’t making a long-term commitment to Cousins, but they’re still cementing that he’ll be their QB for at least the next two years.
For Cousins, his track record of doing excellent business in the NFL continues. He’ll play on a fully guaranteed deal for an eight consecutive season in 2023. Cousins will make $40 million this season and $30 million in 2023. His cap hits are $31.4 million this year, $36.25 million next year, and two void years (2024 and 2025) were added onto the deal. The no-trade clause ends speculation that he could be moved to a different team.
The Vikings are running it back with Cousins in 2022 and 2023. Now we’ll see if O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah can get more out of him and build a championship-caliber team with Cousins at the helm.
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