Report: Vikings offered guarantees to Kirk Cousins
How much money did the Minnesota Vikings offer Kirk Cousins? How much of the offer was guaranteed? Was there a no-trade clause in the proposal?
All of those questions remain secret, but a report from Dianna Russini and Alec Lewis of The Athletic suggests that Minnesota's offer to Cousins did include guaranteed money in the second year of the deal.
The Vikings made Kirk Cousins an offer for more than one year that included guaranteed money in year two, sources tell @alec_lewis and me. Ultimately, the Falcons’ offer exceeded how far Minnesota was willing to go. The team is now focused on maximizing a flexible future.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) March 14, 2024
What the report doesn't explain is how much money was guaranteed in Year 2 of Minnesota's offer. In Atlanta, the Falcons reportedly guaranteed $100 million of the $180 million contract that runs from 2024 to 2027.
"I think in Minnesota, it was trending over the last couple offseasons to being somewhat year-to-year," Cousins said Wednesday about his decision to leave the Vikings.
"As we talked with Atlanta, it felt like this was a place where, if I play at the level I expect to play, that I can retire a Falcon. That was something that really excited me and that's certainly the goal. You've got to earn the right to do that, but that was exciting to feel like I could get that opportunity here."
Did Kirk Cousins just reveal the Falcons tampered with him?
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.