Minnesota Vikings announce extension for Kirk Cousins

The Minnesota Vikings have officially extended quarterback Kirk Cousins for a one-year deal worth $35 million fully guaranteed, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The deal puts him under contract with the Vikings through 2023, per the report. He’ll get a raise to $40 million in 2022 with $55 million payable by next march, and a no-trade clause, per the tweet from Pelissero.

One thing is for certain, Kirk Cousins is a fascinating study in leverage and squeezing every single dime he can out of NFL owner’s pockets. Check out the chart below posted by Ari Meirov of PFF, which displays that Cousins has reeled in a staggering $230 million in his NFL career.

Kirk Cousins 💰👑

2016: $19.9M fully-guaranteed
2017: $23.9M fully-guaranteed
2018: $26M fully-guaranteed
2019: $28M fully-guaranteed
2020: $40M fully-guaranteed
2021: $21M fully-guaranteed
2022: $30M fully-guaranteed
2023: $40M fully-guaranteed

Over $230M in his career total.

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) March 13, 2022

Cousins has his fair share of detractors across the football landscape, but he put up impressive numbers during the 2021-2022 season. He completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 4,221 yards, while tossing in 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Cousins put up those numbers despite getting a subpar year from Vikings running back Dalvin Cook. The former Florida State product rushed 249 times for 1,159 yards and six touchdowns, but disappeared in a number of games. Cook exploded for 205 rushing yards and two touchdowns against the Steelers on Nov. 10. He was limited to under 40 rushing yards against the Browns (Oct. 3), 49ers (Nov. 28), and Packers (Jan. 3).

Cousins will return two of the better receivers in the National Football League in Adam Thielen and former LSU star, Justin Jefferson. Jefferson has exploded onto the scene during his first two seasons and has established himself as one of the game’s bright young stars. In just two years, the former LSU product has erupted for over 3,000 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns on 196 catches.

Cousins is an interesting study and he is truly part scientist, part NFL quarterback. ESPN’s Courtney Cronin wrote a beautifully written article a few years ago detailing how much time, effort and energy Cousins spends on monitoring and training his brain. “I think quarterback comes down far more to the mental, to the nonphysical in the sense of your leadership, your emotional makeup, your ability to process information and have spatial awareness. All those things are hard to measure. There aren’t as many tests at the combine and that kind of thing. I am trying to train those things the best I can because I realize that’s the key to being a really good quarterback,” Cousins said in the article.

He’s thrown for over 4,000 passing yards six times during his 10-year NFL career thus far and he’s also made three Pro Bowls. The extension proves that Vikings new head coach Kevin O’Connell is happy with Cousins guiding the Minnesota offense for the near future.