As soon as once more, Kirk Cousins gained the checkbook Tremendous Bowl. And as soon as once more, the victory will ripple around the NFL and into a mess of various franchises, impacting the soil of promise extensions, trades and the approaching draft.
The subtext of Cousins’ four-year, $180 million pact with the Atlanta Falcons, comprises $100 million in brittle promises that may spice up his profits to no less than $321 million over the process his occupation. It’s some other win in a protracted sequence of victories for the quarterback and his agent, Mike McCartney of VaynerSports, who’ve carved out a staggering story of eleven consecutive years of absolutely assured wage. Within the strategy of that span, Cousins may have boosted each the top-end of quarterback salaries — by means of his 2018 trade in with the Minnesota Vikings, which on the life made him the highest-paid participant within the NFL — and likewise a powerful run of second-tier quarterback agreements with absolutely assured cash.
All of this in spite of just one playoff win underneath his belt, which has in the long run mattered much less on the negotiating desk than Cousins’ willingness to play games out his do business in and select his then vacation spot in separate company. He did it with Washington and located a house with a Vikings franchise that used to be determined for a attribute starter. Upcoming he did it once more this hour, quenching the Falcons’ hunger for a definitive solution to an ongoing sickness on the place.
This unedited trade in wasn’t merely about securing some other bag. Atlanta is in truth an attractive have compatibility for the veteran, who turns 36 in August and now unearths himself in the midst of a stacked offense, working the similar Sean McVay scheme that he realized underneath Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota.
This used to be a trade in that made sense for the participant and the crew. Moreso than the choices for each and every birthday party, which might have opened up with Cousins taking much less assured cash to stay with the Vikings, and put the Falcons into the location of both dealing for Justin Fields (who’s at an excessively problematic level in his rookie promise) or settling for a second-tier rookie quarterback who isn’t a few of the draft’s “big three” of USC’s Caleb Williams, LSU’s Jayden Daniels and UNC’s Drake Maye.
Now the Falcons have a veteran resolution on the place and Cousins has some other two years of assured cash and a wealth of skill round him on offense.
Pace the Falcons and Cousins each pop out of Monday as winners, there can be a number of alternative groups and gamers impacted, too. Between the two of them …
If the swath of general managers who spoke to Yahoo Sports in December were to be believed, the business marketplace for the Bears quarterback used to be at all times comfortable. At absolute best, the ceiling used to be considered as a second-round draft select, with the caveat that Subjects had to have a robust end to the 2023 season. However the majority of GMs noticed his worth as some more or less third-round repayment or most likely much less, assuming enough quantity groups had been keen on making a marketplace. In lieu, the other came about, with a powerful rookie quarterback magnificence to be had, in addition to 3 alternative veteran quarterbacks — Cousins, Baker Mayfield and Russell Wilson — all probably in the marketplace. Wilson’s signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Mayfield getting an extension carried out with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers successfully got rid of two doable business suitors from the combination.
But it surely used to be Cousins’ go to Atlanta that proved maximum harmful to Subjects. Now not most effective did it move off a franchise that had passion in him, the good thing about opening some other settingup QB spot in Minnesota is in the long run negated via the Vikings and Bears being in . Pace it’s now not unparalleled to trade in a settingup quarterback inside of , it’s uncommon and fraught with doable situation for the Bears if Subjects had been to create right into a attribute starter in Minnesota.
For the reason that fact, it leaves a dwindling handful of doable locations if Subjects needs to be traded to a crew this is in search of a starter. There’s the Las Vegas Raiders, who will reportedly sign Gardner Minshew on Monday and may nonetheless be in play games for a rookie QB in Spherical 1. And there’s the Denver Broncos, who may be in play games for a first-round rookie.
Given the fifth-year possibility determination putting over Subjects’ wave promise — which is not likely to be brought about and necessarily leaves him with one yr left on his trade in — it makes either one of the ones locations much less most likely.
The ‘moment tier’ draft quarterbacks and the Vikings, Broncos and Raiders
Presently, the rookie quarterback magnificence is formed into an elite height tier — created from Williams, Daniels and Maye — followed by a second tier of Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, Oregon’s Bo Nix and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. Any member of that trio can have been in play games on the Falcons’ Negative. 8 total select within the draft. Now it seems that there’s a anticipation none of them journey throughout the height 10, except the New York Giants construct a miracle select at Negative. 6 total. In fact, that’s barring a business up from one of the crucial groups at Negative. 11 (the Vikings), 12 (Broncos) or 13 (Raiders). Inside that trio, most effective the Raiders have a veteran in Minshew who has proven capacity as a bridge starter. All 3 of those groups is also in search of their select in the second one tier, which might entail transferring up into the height 10 if one QB surfaces as the most suitable choice then the obese 3.
The Detroit Lions and Jared Goff (plus each and every alternative month inbound QB extension)
Cousins’ trade in with the Falcons goes to weigh at the Goff extension talks. Now not most effective is Goff more youthful (29), he has completed significantly extra within the postseason than Cousins. And what as soon as regarded adore it is usually a $50 million consistent with yr ticket for the Lions quarterback is now necessarily confident of it.
Avid gamers like Dak Prescott and Trevor Lawrence are much less prone to be impacted as a result of either one of their extensions may rather well be a document. However Goff — as of now — had now not been regarded as to be in that corporate.
Detroit’s NFC identify sport run within the playoffs can have already modified his wage flooring. Cousins’ trade in certainly places a flooring in.
Two well-known brokers with a historical past of doing quarterback do business in mentioned Monday evening that given Cousins’ trade in, Goff’s flooring will have to get started throughout the top-five quarterback do business in. If Lawrence and Prescott get their do business in carried out first and reset the marketplace, that will put Goff’s moderate wage flooring within the area of $52 million… if he doesn’t give the Lions some more or less bargain.
