Getty Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings.
More teams are joining the potential Kirk Cousins sweepstakes by the day.
The Minnesota Vikings quarterback offers consistency at the position that could prove highly valuable to teams that feel they’re a quarterback away from making a serious run in the postseason.
The potential trade dilemma is an unattractive $45 million price tag attached to Cousins. The Vikings owe the veteran quarterback a $10 million signing bonus no matter if he stays, is traded or is cut at any point this year. Cousins’ $35 million base salary will likely be the sticking point of most trade talks as teams may look for Minnesota to cover some of his base salary in a possible trade.
That could make a trade for Cousins less lucrative than most discussions projecting a first-round pick for the 33-year-old quarterback.
However, a few teams could take on his entire base salary, including a new trade partner in the NFC that just recently emerged.
Panthers Rise as Potential Suitor for Cousins
The Athletic’s Chadd Graff recently dissected all the possible routes the Vikings could go in a trade involving Cousins. While admitting Cousins is better than Alex Smith, Graff likened the Vikings quarterback’s trade value similar to the 2018 deal that sent Smith to Washington to replace Cousins due to the difference in their cap hits.
Rumors have already stirred about a potential trade to the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers — both teams that Graff suggested can carry Cousins’ full $35 million base salary. Graff also proposed the Carolina Panthers as another team to take Cousin’s contract.
I wanted to find another recent deal to compare a prospective Cousins trade to, and many around the league pointed to the 2018 deal that sent Alex Smith to Washington, coincidently to replace Cousins. Smith was traded for a third-round pick and a young player who had been taken in the third round two years earlier — so essentially two third-round picks. Like Cousins, Smith had one year left on his contract. Cousins is 33. Smith was 33 when he was traded.
But there are two additional things to keep in mind. The first is that Cousins is better than Smith was; thus, in theory, he should be worth more than Smith. But the second is that Cousins’ cap hit is considerably higher. Smith’s cap hit was $18.4 million, or 10.3 percent of the salary cap back then. The $35 million cap hit a team would incur by taking on Cousins would be 16.8 percent of the projected $208 million salary cap for 2022. Very few teams have the space to take on a player with that large of a hit.
Because of that, the number of teams capable of making a trade for Cousins without the Vikings taking on additional money is slim. The top options for a Cousins trade seem to be the Broncos, Steelers and Panthers, with a couple of other teams perhaps marginally interested. The Panthers wouldn’t have enough cap space to incur an additional $35 million. The Broncos and Steelers barely would, but that’s without factoring in free agents or a rookie draft class.
The Panthers traded a second-round pick and two Day 3 picks for Sam Darnold last offseason. A change of scenery wasn’t enough for Darnold to improve his stature in the NFL with Darnold throwing more interceptions (13) than touchdowns (9) for a second straight season.
First-year Panthers coach Matt Rhule used all seven of his draft picks on defense in the 2021 draft, a move that helped the team’s defense allow the second-fewest yards last season. The Panthers could be a proven quarterback away from turning the franchise around with talents like CJ McCaffrey and D.J. Moore at their disposal.
Carolina could trade Darnold elsewhere and recover some draft capital to be used in a trade for Cousins.
Star Tribune columnist Michael Rand suggested the Miami Dolphins, who have the most cap space in the NFL and are hiring on a new head coach, could be a potential suitor to take on Cousins’ cap hit as well.
What Are the Other Options
Like it or not, Cousins doesn’t fit into a new regime’s five-year plan in Minnesota.
The Vikings have three options: let him play out the final year of his contract and eat his $45 million cap hit; extend Cousins for a couple more years to lessen his cap load; or trade him.
A trade offers the most value to Minnesota, which is projected to be $12.2 million over the salary cap and won’t have the funds to make any splashy moves in free agency. Instead, the Vikings would like to pick up draft picks and rebuild the defense through the draft.
The Vikings could convert more of Cousins’ base salary into a bonus, making him a more attractive trade prospect with a potential suitor only needing to pay him in the ballpark of a $25 million salary — which falls in line with what playoff-bound quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Jimmy Garoppolo make.
Taking on more of Cousins’ cap hit could reel in a first-round pick in exchange, which is the most valuable asset for a new general manager and coach hoping to make their mark on the franchise.