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What's the cost of stability at quarterback for Vikings? It's pricelessMany opinions surround the Vikings' decision to hand Kirk Cousins $84 million to take over as quarterback. But this is a franchise that desperately needed to take a chance.
In 2017, Keenum had a passer rating of 105.1 in indoor games and 88.7 in outdoor games. Cousins might not be required to be as prolific as he was in Washington, but he should be even more efficient while playing a majority of his games under a roof.
The Vikings have been searching for a franchise quarterback since Fran Tarkenton retired. No Vikings quarterback since Daunte Culpepper has given them three consecutive, healthy, prolific seasons.
Cousins is coming off three consecutive, healthy, prolific seasons at the age of 29.
“When they get to this age is when they really hit it,” Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman said.
There isn’t overwhelming evidence to support a sea change for quarterbacks at the age of 30, but when you just spent $84 million, you’re going to paint the prettiest possible picture.
With Cousins signed, the Vikings won’t have to waste a first-round draft pick on someone such as Christian Ponder and won’t wind up settling for someone far less accomplished than Cousins in free agency.
Spending $84 million on a quarterback who has never won a playoff game might not have made much sense for a lot of franchises. Considering the Vikings’ history at the position, Cousins — even at this price — is worth a try.
http://www.startribune.com/what-s-the-cost-of-stability-at-quarterback-for-vikings-it-s-priceless/477033433/
Quote: @StickyBun said:
Yeah, not so sure. I do think Kirk is an upgrade over case, but I don't feel that having Cousins would've been enough to win it all this past season. We had a great season, but the Pats and Eagles were the two best teams. We needed more than better QB play to win that game in Philly.
Quote: @HappyViking said:
@ StickyBun said:
Yeah, not so sure. I do think Kirk is an upgrade over case, but I don't feel that having Cousins would've been enough to win it all this past season. We had a great season, but the Pats and Eagles were the two best teams. We needed more than better QB play to win that game in Philly.
Very agreed...but that makes me happy that we not only upgraded at QB, we're reportedly upgrading at DT and have one of the architects of the championship offense as our OC. He can work with Zimmer on the weaknesses that Philly exploited, and the Vikings could be far more formidable this year.
Kirk's passer rating indoors (last 3 seasons): 132.6... 104.2... 106.3
I'm not going to concern myself with the contract amount nor the guaranteed money aspect. As we saw from the introduction press conference yesterday the media like many are focusing on it a lot.
Some are upset about the $28m/season average and preferred the team went a cheaper direction, which I would say stems from just being used to MN teams doing such a thing (seemingly). I've looked at it one way; what would have happened had Teddy not suffered his injury? I don't know that he would have progressed enough to perform at the level Bradford did in '16 and Keenum did in '17. However, if he did and had gotten the team to and lost the NFCC game just like Case, I do believe he would have gotten his big contract. What would that contract have looked like? I'd say it would have been slightly larger than his draft counterpart, Carr. Carr's new contract is 5 years, $125m w/ $70m guaranteed. So I'd say with "what-ifs" and hindsight the Vikings were likely to be due for paying big for any QB right about now.
Had Teddy not progressed or regressed they would have also needed to either start over with the draft or pay. That would have put them in a similar situation gambling on the unproven or the continual cycle of short-term individuals that may or may not do well or stay healthy like Bradford and Keenum.
Many were very content going another season with Keenum. I would have been okay with it as well. I do think though that we just saw what will be his career best season. That looked like his peak to me. We see guys have seasons like that all the time and then can't sustain it. Cousins has shown a sustained level of passing that's already better on a team that hasn't been as good across the board. With this current roster I believe the Vikings had to pay up now.
Quote: @CLOBIMON said:
I'm not going to concern myself with the contract amount nor the guaranteed money aspect. As we saw from the introduction press conference yesterday the media like many are focusing on it a lot.
Some are upset about the $28m/season average and preferred the team went a cheaper direction, which I would say stems from just being used to MN teams doing such a thing (seemingly). I've looked at it one way; what would have happened had Teddy not suffered his injury? I don't know that he would have progressed enough to perform at the level Bradford did in '16 and Keenum did in '17. However, if he did and had gotten the team to and lost the NFCC game just like Case, I do believe he would have gotten his big contract. What would that contract have looked like? I'd say it would have been slightly larger than his draft counterpart, Carr. Carr's new contract is 5 years, $125m w/ $70m guaranteed. So I'd say with "what-ifs" and hindsight the Vikings were likely to be due for paying big for any QB right about now.
Had Teddy not progressed or regressed they would have also needed to either start over with the draft or pay. That would have put them in a similar situation gambling on the unproven or the continual cycle of short-term individuals that may or may not do well or stay healthy like Bradford and Keenum.
Many were very content going another season with Keenum. I would have been okay with it as well. I do think though that we just saw what will be his career best season. That looked like his peak to me. We see guys have seasons like that all the time and then can't sustain it. Cousins has shown a sustained level of passing that's already better on a team that hasn't been as good across the board. With this current roster I believe the Vikings had to pay up now.
Well said, Vikings were going to pay up pretty big for a QB this year; Case, Cousins or Sam. I could not see them going the McCarron route.
Quote: @CLOBIMON said:
I'm not going to concern myself with the contract amount nor the guaranteed money aspect. As we saw from the introduction press conference yesterday the media like many are focusing on it a lot.
Some are upset about the $28m/season average and preferred the team went a cheaper direction, which I would say stems from just being used to MN teams doing such a thing (seemingly). I've looked at it one way; what would have happened had Teddy not suffered his injury? I don't know that he would have progressed enough to perform at the level Bradford did in '16 and Keenum did in '17. However, if he did and had gotten the team to and lost the NFCC game just like Case, I do believe he would have gotten his big contract. What would that contract have looked like? I'd say it would have been slightly larger than his draft counterpart, Carr. Carr's new contract is 5 years, $125m w/ $70m guaranteed. So I'd say with "what-ifs" and hindsight the Vikings were likely to be due for paying big for any QB right about now.
Had Teddy not progressed or regressed they would have also needed to either start over with the draft or pay. That would have put them in a similar situation gambling on the unproven or the continual cycle of short-term individuals that may or may not do well or stay healthy like Bradford and Keenum.
Many were very content going another season with Keenum. I would have been okay with it as well. I do think though that we just saw what will be his career best season. That looked like his peak to me. We see guys have seasons like that all the time and then can't sustain it. Cousins has shown a sustained level of passing that's already better on a team that hasn't been as good across the board. With this current roster I believe the Vikings had to pay up now.
Actually, had Teddy been playing well, we would have got him on his 5th year option. The Vikes declined that last year. I am not sure what it is, but I am guessing it's less then what we paid Cousins.
Either way though, he got hurt, and we ended up with Cousins. Dem's de breaks.
Quote: @Vikesrock said:
@ CLOBIMON said:
I'm not going to concern myself with the contract amount nor the guaranteed money aspect. As we saw from the introduction press conference yesterday the media like many are focusing on it a lot.
Some are upset about the $28m/season average and preferred the team went a cheaper direction, which I would say stems from just being used to MN teams doing such a thing (seemingly). I've looked at it one way; what would have happened had Teddy not suffered his injury? I don't know that he would have progressed enough to perform at the level Bradford did in '16 and Keenum did in '17. However, if he did and had gotten the team to and lost the NFCC game just like Case, I do believe he would have gotten his big contract. What would that contract have looked like? I'd say it would have been slightly larger than his draft counterpart, Carr. Carr's new contract is 5 years, $125m w/ $70m guaranteed. So I'd say with "what-ifs" and hindsight the Vikings were likely to be due for paying big for any QB right about now.
Had Teddy not progressed or regressed they would have also needed to either start over with the draft or pay. That would have put them in a similar situation gambling on the unproven or the continual cycle of short-term individuals that may or may not do well or stay healthy like Bradford and Keenum.
Many were very content going another season with Keenum. I would have been okay with it as well. I do think though that we just saw what will be his career best season. That looked like his peak to me. We see guys have seasons like that all the time and then can't sustain it. Cousins has shown a sustained level of passing that's already better on a team that hasn't been as good across the board. With this current roster I believe the Vikings had to pay up now.
Actually, had Teddy been playing well, we would have got him on his 5th year option. The Vikes declined that last year. I am not sure what it is, but I am guessing it's less then what we paid Cousins.
Either way though, he got hurt, and we ended up with Cousins. Dem's de breaks.
This is what I was told, I how ever never checked it though.
5th year options receive salaries that are equal to the average of the 10 highest salaries at their given position
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