Kirk Cousins ​​agrees to 1 year contract extension for $ 35 million with Minnesota Vikings – Reading Eagle

The Minnesota Vikings have pledged quarterback Kirk Cousins ​​for the next two seasons, looking forward to further improvements under new head coach Kevin O’Connell.

The Vikings announced their agreement in principle with Cousins ​​to extend their contract for one year on Sunday – the last high-leverage deal with which Cousins ​​successfully bet on himself, and the clearest sign that the Vikings are not interested in a showdown under the new leadership.

Casinos will receive $ 35 million in new guaranteed money to double the amount of cash expected by the Vikings, according to a man who knows the situation, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the terms were not published.

The new contract also has a clause banning trade, the man said.

The agreement includes a $ 25 million bonus when signed over the next four years to smooth out the impact on the salary cap. Given the rest of his last signing bonus and his new base salary in 2022 of $ 15 million, Cousins ​​will now have a limit of just over $ 31.4 million.

That lowers $ 14 million on the Vikings’ salary cap, almost enough to keep the club well below the $ 208.2 million figure that begins on Wednesday, when the league’s new year begins. The Vikings would achieve this by either releasing or restructuring a contract for another veteran player.

This is Cousins ​​’third contract with the Vikings in four years. The last two seasons he has played with Washington on the franchise. With a career-high 59-59-2 record as a starter, no player has maximized their market value better than Cousins, whose profits in 2016-23 will exceed $ 228 million.

Cousins’ previous limits forced the Vikings to reduce this, either by trading or by extending a deal that would equal his guaranteed money. With O’Connell on board, developing a strong relationship with Cousins ​​as his coaching defenders when they were both in Washington in 2017, the Vikings decided to leave Cousins ​​at least for the foreseeable future without a replacement on the list.

“Kirk was one of the first players I called when he joined the Vikings, and it was immediately clear how much he cared about the organization and the victory,” new general manager Kwesi Adafo-Mensa said in a statement. “A high-level quarterback game is a prerequisite for building a champion team, and we are confident that Kirk will continue on that path.”

Last season in 16 games the treasury passed 4221 yards and made 33 touchdowns. He threw just seven interceptions for the best interception percentage (1.2) of his career. He missed one game after a positive test on COVID-19. He was one of several key players on the team who were not vaccinated. The Vikings went 8-9 and fired general manager Rick Spielman and coach Mike Timer.

Cousins ​​started 63 games for the Vikings, the fourth largest defender in the team’s history. They will draw on O’Connell’s experience and the accuracy, durability and reliability of Cousins ​​over the next two years to try to win this Super Cup, which dodged the franchise for the first 62 seasons.

“Now, if that’s not the case,” Cousins ​​said on Twitter, “let’s get to work on Lombardi.”

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