Kirk Cousins agrees to unique deal with Minnesota Vikings

Kirk Cousins? His first visit as a free agent will be to Minnesota, with the Vikings long considered a natural landing spot for one of the most valuable quarterbacks.

The Minnesota Vikings and Kirk Cousins stunned the NFL Tuesday with news of a fully guaranteed $84 million contract for the free agent quarterback – an unprecedented player-friendly deal for a league in which teams routinely pull the plug early on players and contracts deemed cost-ineffective.

Brees, 39, wants to finish his career in New Orleans, where he has played since 2006, won a Super Bowl and led one of the most productive offenses in the NFL.

With brief flashes from young quarterbacks before injuries or over-exposure and similar things from veteran retreads, the Vikings have not had suitable stability under center the last 25-plus years at minimum. He was medically cleared to return to practice and, from Weeks 10-17, served as the backup to Case Keenum.

Thomas is one of only four National Football League players to post five consecutive seasons (2012-16) with at least 90 catches and 1,000 receiving yards, and although he fell seven catches and 51 yards shy of making it six seasons a year ago, he continued to scale the Broncos’ record books. Paying a quarterback that high of a salary certainly handcuffs other positions on the roster, we as Packers fans should know that well. Appearing on PFT Live, Paul Allen of KFAN said that some Vikings are privately “elated” by the news that Cousins is joining the cause.

The Vikings No. 1 quarterback at the start of last season was Sam Bradford. Overall, it’s a good move for both Cousins and the Vikings, particularly with the guaranteed money for Cousins and the lack of long-term commitment for the Vikings, and it should keep Minnesota right in the mix near the top of the NFC.

One day before the league’s new year begins, quarterbacks are again stealing the spotlight.

If the Vikings can eradicate some of Cousins’ flaws and make him more consistent, they can be a force.

It can be argued that he played that role for Washington since being drafted by the Redskins in 2012.

Bradford is also a free agent.

Keenum is poised to join the Denver Broncos, who have struggled to settle on a starting quarterback since the retirement of Peyton Manning in 2016. Since 2015, Cousins ranks third in completion percentage (67), fifth in yards per attempt (7.8), eighth in passing TDs (81) and seventh in Total QBR (62.3), according to ESPN Stats and Information. Keenum’s 2017 season would’ve been one of the very best in Broncos history. They’ll also have Dalvin Cook back from an ACL tear. No, Teddy Bridgewater isn’t going to miraculously come in and be the same player he once was. There aren’t many other obvious situations (Chiefs, Cardinals maybe?) where he could even expect to be in a camp competition for a starter’s job.