A Complete Update on Kirk Cousins’ Situation Ahead of Free Agency

Finally, NFL free agency day has here. And that implies that developments involving Kirk Cousins could happen swiftly.

Today at 11 a.m. central time, the NFL’s window for lawful tampering will open. Although agreements can be reached in the interim, they cannot be formally presented to the league until Wednesday at 3 p.m. CT, when the new league year begins. Negotiations with pending free agents are meant to start during these two days, but in reality, those discussions have been going on for a while (and they got heated at the combine). At this point, formal offers will begin to come in.

This is what we currently know about the Cousins issue, which may come to an end later today.

The Vikings have had exclusive negotiation rights with Cousins up to this point, at least in accordance with the regulations. Although they have put their offer on the table, Cousins’ team appears to be demanding more given that no deal has been finalized as of yet. The Vikings are cool with him testing the market since it might help put their offer in perspective. The representatives of Cousins have continued to communicate with them, but there has been no sign that they are compromising on their demands.

The Vikings have often expressed their desire for Cousins to return to the team. It seems as though head coach Kevin O’Connell genuinely wants it to happen. However, it seems apparent that General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is only interested in Cousins returning on the Vikings’ conditions. There has been a lot of talk that they will have limits on the amount they will pay and, more significantly, the amount of it they will guarantee.

In this case, the contract’s structure is crucial. The Vikings are reluctant to give him the three fully guaranteed years that Cousins may demand. The previous offseason, an extension was not finalized because of this. It is likely more about the guarantees than the AAV of the deal, which is anticipated to be at least $40 million, even though both are significant.

The Falcons are the most apparent outside candidate for Cousins, and Atlanta makes sense for a number of reasons. This might be resolved fast if they were to provide Cousins’ camp with an offer that is unquestionably superior than what the Vikings have offered. Naturally, Cousins’ camp may attempt to use a Falcons or other team’s offer as leverage to persuade Minnesota to raise their own.

Cousins will likely be gone if he and the Vikings continue to hold firm and a team like the Falcons makes a sizable offer. However, there’s still a chance that he stays with the Vikings. Perhaps there isn’t a better deal available. Perhaps one or both sides give a little ground because the Vikings or the cousins decide they truly want to stick together.

It should be an interesting day because there are still a number of options.

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