Vikes’ Cousins again positioned for big offseason

Few players in NFL history have conquered the offseason more than Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, who once again has put himself on a path to a lucrative payday.

Cousins’ entire salary has been guaranteed for each of the past eight seasons, including the one that starts Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Accounting for this season as well, Cousins will have made $231,469,288, and $229,369,288 of it — a staggering 99.09% — has been guaranteed.

Cousins’ average salary per year has been $19.29 million, including an average of $28.61 million as a starter.

More guaranteed money appears to be in Cousins’ short-term future. The Vikings cannot use their franchise tag on Cousins, who is assured of having the ability to become an unrestricted free agent in 2024.

Rather than extending Cousins’ contract this past offseason, the Vikings added four voidable years to his deal to save the team $16 million worth of salary cap space this season.

But a review of the deal shows that the contract doesn’t void until the day before the 2024 league year begins on March 13 — eight days after the March 5 deadline closes for teams to use their franchise tag on a player.

Cousins therefore cannot be forced to be contractually tied to Minnesota, and the four-time Pro Bowler once again has a clear path to free agency during an offseason in which multiple teams could potentially be looking for a new starting quarterback, including the Buccaneers, Commanders, Rams, Titans, Cardinals, Patriots, 49ers and the Vikings.

Cousins, who has stated that he wants to finish his career in Minnesota, acknowledged last week that his job is “on the line” this season. Although he is still seeking his first career championship, the 12-year veteran has enjoyed enormous offseason success.

He afforded himself the flexibility to leave Washington after the 2017 season and signed a three-year, $84 million fully-guaranteed contract with the Vikings, which has become the norm for Cousins. He has since extended his contract twice in Minnesota, signing a two-year, $66 million fully-guaranteed extension in 2020 and then a one-year, $35 million fully-guaranteed extension last offseason.

While Cousins is expected to have multiple options this offseason, the Vikings’ quarterback picture is uncertain and wide open. Nick Mullens is listed as Cousins’ backup quarterback, and Minnesota also used a 2023 fifth-round draft pick on former Brigham Young quarterback Jaren Hall.

Cousins, 35, passed for 4,547 yards and threw 29 touchdowns last season, leading the Vikings to a 13-4 record and the NFC North division title. He is the only quarterback in NFL history who has led his team to the playoffs with a defense that ranked in the bottom three in the NFL in average points per game and average yards per game.