Minnesota Vikings Sign QB Kirk Cousins To 1 Year Extention

The Minnesota Vikings think Quarterback Kirk Cousins is the guy to lead the team, at least for two more years according to the Associated Press/Yahoo! Sports.

According to Vikings Wire/Yahoo! Sports, new GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said the first phone call he made when he was named the GM of the Vikings was to Cousins. Kirk told him how he is 100% about winning a Super Bowl with the Minnesota Vikings. Adofo-Mensah said he was impressed with what he heard.

The article goes on to say that Cousins and the Vikings agreed to a one-year, $35 million fully guaranteed extension. One of the biggest complaints I have had and other Viking fans have had with Cousins is he looks good on paper but the trophy case is still empty. Back-up Case Keenum took the team farther than Cousins has.

So far the new guys are making decisions like the old guys. The AP/Yahoo! Sports explain the deal like this: Cousins gets $35 million in new guaranteed money. The deal also has a $25 million dollar signing bonus. This time Cousins had a no-trade clause put in, that should end all the trade rumors.

As I look at the money and the cap hit of this deal, it doesn't seem much different. The deal they signed with him last time wound up weakening the defense because there wasn't any money to pay any of them. I don't see much different happening now.

The people that as Cousins say, he is a top 20 quarterback in the league and is consistent. That is true, his statistics show him to be very good. He has a high percentage of completions and low interceptions.  It's all on paper.

The people that don't like Cousins say, for all that money he hasn't paid off, and may never pay off and just keeps making money while our defense suffers because Cousins draws so much of the budget. The other complaint is, he doesn't have the killer instinct that says, "I will win this game at any cost" as other winning quarterbacks have.

I do like the fact that the new coach has worked with him and may be able to design some plays to help him excel. The Vikings have some weapons that won't be here much longer so I hope the new coach can use what he has on offense and create a defense to be much better than the last few years.