Quote: @JimmyinSD said:
not sure if this has been shared yet: Kirk deal broken down by year. essentially it was a 3 year deal for 45M per year w/ 90 million guaranteed, they could get out after year 2 and eat that 25 million in cap hit if they were really wanting to cut ties, but most likely he gets year 3 IMO barring injury, even if its to back up a new kid.
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/atlanta-falc...sins-9915/ (here is the link, the cut and paste is kind of cluttered)
| CONTRACT TERMS:4 yr(s) / $180,000,000 | SIGNING BONUS$50,000,000 | AVERAGE SALARY$45,000,000 | GTD AT SIGN:$90,000,000 | TOTAL GTD:$100,000,000 | FREE AGENT:2028 / UFA |
| | BONUS BREAKDOWN | CAP DETAILS | CASH DETAILS | |
|---|
| YEAR | | AGE | BASE SALARY | SIGNING | ROSTER | CAP HIT | DEAD CAP | YEARLY CASH | CASH AAV | |
|---|
| 2024 | ![[Image: atl2.png]](https://d1dglpr230r57l.cloudfront.net/images/thumb/atl2.png) | 36 | $12,500,000 | $12,500,000 | - | $25,000,000 | $90,000,000 | $62,500,000($62,500,000) | $62,500,000 | | | 2025 | | 37 | $27,500,000 | $12,500,000 | - | $40,000,000 | $65,000,000 | $27,500,000($90,000,000) | $45,000,000 | | | 2026 | | 38 | $35,000,000 | $12,500,000 | $10,000,000 | $57,500,000 | $25,000,000 | $45,000,000($135,000,000) | $45,000,000 | | | POTENTIAL OUT: 2027, 3 YR, $135,000,000; $12,500,000 DEAD CAP |
| | 2027 | | 39 | $35,000,000 | $12,500,000 | $10,000,000 | $57,500,000 | $12,500,000 | $45,000,000($180,000,000) | $45,000,000 | | | 2028 | | 40 | UFA | | Contract Notes:- $90M guaranteed at signing (signing bonus + 2024 salary + 2025 salary)
- 2026 Roster Bonus: $10M (fully guarantees the 5th league day of 2025 (injury guaranteed at signing)
- 2027 Roster Bonus: $10M (5th league day of 2027)
- Full No Trade Clause
|
For comparison, if we were to match that we'd also have his void years added to the dead cap numbers
Quote: @medaille said:
I don’t think it’s too complicated.
I think they have this plan of refreshing the roster and
building around a rookie contract QB and Cousins requirement of having more
years guaranteed dramatically inhibits that plan as you’d be paying Cousins
premium money throughout the majority of the rookies contract and by the time
you were free of Cousins and his void years, you’d be paying the “Rookie QB”
their 5th year option.
Cousins just isn’t good enough / cost-effective enough /
young enough to change that plan back into the “Build around an expensive veteran” plan that
we’ve been running back for the Kirk time period. I think if Cousins was a Mahomes/Rodgers caliber
of QB, they would have figured it out, but he’s still in that middle tier of
QBs that doesn’t have much playoff success.
Yep this is a better way of putting what I was trying to say.
The plan was the plan and while it's hit some bumps in the road (we're currently in one), they stuck to it. Kirk is good but not good enough to justify deviation, especially coming off injury and especially with our roster already in full turnover mode.
Quote: @medaille said:
@ JimmyinSD said:
not sure if this has been shared yet: Kirk deal broken down by year. essentially it was a 3 year deal for 45M per year w/ 90 million guaranteed, they could get out after year 2 and eat that 25 million in cap hit if they were really wanting to cut ties, but most likely he gets year 3 IMO barring injury, even if its to back up a new kid.
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/atlanta-falc...sins-9915/ (here is the link, the cut and paste is kind of cluttered)
| CONTRACT TERMS:4 yr(s) / $180,000,000 | SIGNING BONUS$50,000,000 | AVERAGE SALARY$45,000,000 | GTD AT SIGN:$90,000,000 | TOTAL GTD:$100,000,000 | FREE AGENT:2028 / UFA |
| | BONUS BREAKDOWN | CAP DETAILS | CASH DETAILS | |
|---|
| YEAR | | AGE | BASE SALARY | SIGNING | ROSTER | CAP HIT | DEAD CAP | YEARLY CASH | CASH AAV | |
|---|
| 2024 | | 36 | $12,500,000 | $12,500,000 | - | $25,000,000 | $90,000,000 | $62,500,000($62,500,000) | $62,500,000 | | | 2025 | | 37 | $27,500,000 | $12,500,000 | - | $40,000,000 | $65,000,000 | $27,500,000($90,000,000) | $45,000,000 | | | 2026 | | 38 | $35,000,000 | $12,500,000 | $10,000,000 | $57,500,000 | $25,000,000 | $45,000,000($135,000,000) | $45,000,000 | | | POTENTIAL OUT: 2027, 3 YR, $135,000,000; $12,500,000 DEAD CAP |
| | 2027 | | 39 | $35,000,000 | $12,500,000 | $10,000,000 | $57,500,000 | $12,500,000 | $45,000,000($180,000,000) | $45,000,000 | | | 2028 | | 40 | UFA | | Contract Notes:- $90M guaranteed at signing (signing bonus + 2024 salary + 2025 salary)
- 2026 Roster Bonus: $10M (fully guarantees the 5th league day of 2025 (injury guaranteed at signing)
- 2027 Roster Bonus: $10M (5th league day of 2027)
- Full No Trade Clause
|
For comparison, if we were to match that we'd also have his void years added to the dead cap numbers
Yes.we would have an additional 28m on top of what we see here for the first 2 years.
Quote: @StickyBun said:
@ jargomcfargo said:
BTW I find it curious to hear the day before the move was announced, the Cousins had been shopping for homes in Atlanta. Someone here said they were just doing due diligence!
Just about 3 hours after it was announced Kirk was leaving a KFAN radio show host said the Cousin's Minnesota house was already sold!
Possibly BS. But interesting if not!
KOC alluded that there was some illegal tampering going on out there with Cousins. You can bet your ass it was Atlanta, feeling out the parameters of a deal.
Oh, yeah. A day or so before the combine, a video shared by Justine Fields' manager showing Fields celebrating (a trade in works with the Falcons?). https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/nfl/ar...s-nfl.html
After the combine, a ton of smoke on Atlanta coming hard after Cousins.
Alright Atlanta, you can send your first round pick along with a few other for tampering.
Quote: @DeepFreeze05 said:
@ StickyBun said:
@ jargomcfargo said:
BTW I find it curious to hear the day before the move was announced, the Cousins had been shopping for homes in Atlanta. Someone here said they were just doing due diligence!
Just about 3 hours after it was announced Kirk was leaving a KFAN radio show host said the Cousin's Minnesota house was already sold!
Possibly BS. But interesting if not!
KOC alluded that there was some illegal tampering going on out there with Cousins. You can bet your ass it was Atlanta, feeling out the parameters of a deal.
Oh, yeah. A day or so before the combine, a video shared by Justine Fields' manager showing Fields celebrating (a trade in works with the Falcons?). https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/nfl/ar...s-nfl.html
After the combine, a ton of smoke on Atlanta coming hard after Cousins.
Alright Atlanta, you can send your first round pick along with a few other for tampering.
Send? Nah, they just lose it, we don't get it. Nothing to gain by the Vikes making a stink at this point. Now if the contract was nullified and Cousins had to come back to Minnesota on a repeat of last years deal... then you make noise, or if you got their picks, then sure, but it don't work that way. Of course that would be one less team between the Vikes and the QB of their choosing.
Quote: @JimmyinSD said:
@ DeepFreeze05 said:
@ StickyBun said:
@ jargomcfargo said:
BTW I find it curious to hear the day before the move was announced, the Cousins had been shopping for homes in Atlanta. Someone here said they were just doing due diligence!
Just about 3 hours after it was announced Kirk was leaving a KFAN radio show host said the Cousin's Minnesota house was already sold!
Possibly BS. But interesting if not!
KOC alluded that there was some illegal tampering going on out there with Cousins. You can bet your ass it was Atlanta, feeling out the parameters of a deal.
Oh, yeah. A day or so before the combine, a video shared by Justine Fields' manager showing Fields celebrating (a trade in works with the Falcons?). https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/nfl/ar...s-nfl.html
After the combine, a ton of smoke on Atlanta coming hard after Cousins.
Alright Atlanta, you can send your first round pick along with a few other for tampering.
Send? Nah, they just lose it, we don't get it. Nothing to gain by the Vikes making a stink at this point. Now if the contract was nullified and Cousins had to come back to Minnesota on a repeat of last years deal... then you make noise, or if you got their picks, then sure, but it don't work that way. Of course that would be one less team between the Vikes and the QB of their choosing.
The Vikings didn't wake up Monday morning and make their first phone calls ever to the agents of the three guys they had signed by mid afternoon. They tampered, like every other team did, at the combine.
The NFL only punishes tampering when it's really blatant. Combine tampering doesn't count and no team is going to raise a stink, KOC's limp on-air protest notwithstanding, because they would just be the pot calling the kettle black and open the door to their own tampering charges.
Quote: @medaille said:
I don’t think it’s too complicated.
I think they have this plan of refreshing the roster and
building around a rookie contract QB and Cousins requirement of having more
years guaranteed dramatically inhibits that plan as you’d be paying Cousins
premium money throughout the majority of the rookies contract and by the time
you were free of Cousins and his void years, you’d be paying the “Rookie QB”
their 5th year option.
Cousins just isn’t good enough / cost-effective enough /
young enough to change that plan back into the “Build around an expensive veteran” plan that
we’ve been running back for the Kirk time period. I think if Cousins was a Mahomes/Rodgers caliber
of QB, they would have figured it out, but he’s still in that middle tier of
QBs that doesn’t have much playoff success.
This is my point and what I alluded to in my original post: ultimately, this wasn't their guy (Cousins) to get them to the top for the comp he was requesting and the guarantees. Like Meatloaf said:' I want you.....I need you....but there ain't no way I'm ever going to love you'.
Quote: @StickyBun said:
I mean, if they felt strongly enough about him, they could have done it. Stepped up contactually. Kirko loved it in Minnesota, so did his family. The team loved him. He was an excellent leader and ironman. Good community guy. So why didn't they? Don't say the injury, because that didn't stop Atlanta one iota. Nor his age.
KOC can tell me he loved Kirk all day long.....and I mostly believe him. But its obvious he didn't LOVE love him. Nor did the organization apparently. IMO, it came down to a few items:- Lack of mobility/average arm strength.
- Kirk's mentality: he was really hard on himself when he messed up and struggled to move past it. We've seen sideline scenarios where KOC and Kirk were testy with each other over letting things go.
- I think both KOC and KAM love the idea of bringing in a rookie they can teach THEIR way. I think they are confident in KOC's ability to mentor up a kid with ability and aptitude fresh from college. They also brought on McCown to be the guy in that rookie's ear, supporting him and building him up.
- I think the organization wants that rookie QB salary window before he gets truly paid to build a strong contending team around that via free agency/draft. KAM has dug the team out of a salary cap hole.
Although it doesn't look like it right now, I think this plan is how they think they'll truly win a Super Bowl.
There is a good article in the Athletic this morning. i’d say while they definitely lioved Kirk, they really are enamored with the idea of building around a talented QB on a rookie contract, being able to have the money to build around that player, with the cap space, etc.
They would have been fine to sign Kirk to a bridge contract but really only as a means to still work that plan. Kirk was looking for more commitment and found it in Atlanta. and the Vikings could really rehaul with him and Jefferson still on the books. i think its more about building a championship caliber team and that has been tbe plan since Kwesi was hired. If they were to keep Kirk, they would continue to hang on the fringes of being competitive but he’s not young and the rest of the team needs an infusion of talent. it hasnt helped that their drafts have sucked because that has accelerated the need to add free agents and the cost associated with it.
I think you’re reading too much into it. I don't think it's about degrees of like, love or even how talented they believe Cousins is or isn't. I think they all understand he's a very good QB. The kind you try really hard to keep.
I think it's about Kwesi not wanting to put any QB money into 2026. For better or worse (worse in this case), that’s where he drew the line. He cleared the decks last year; he's clearing more this year. He has a specific and rigid financial vision. KOC might buy into that, but he’s clearly not happy about losing his QB.
In Kwesi’s defense, he’s been given a high-profile job and before he’s held to account, he wants a chance to build the team his way. I think he’s a very confident guy and he believes in his vision.
Should we? It’s too early to tell.
I think the time, above all, was the clincher. I know the players wanted Kirk back, the coach did, and for all the spittle about "...only won 1 playoff game...", functional people also know that we've been pure s**t at protecting our QBs for the last decade, whereas champion teams prioritize exactly that, and trench play in general.
Think of the years of our IOL issues, think of giving up 6 rushing TDs to NOLA on Xmas a few years back, and realize: we were JUNK in both trenches. We weren't a PLAYOFF TEAM, and no amount of grousing about the QB would change that. Blame Rick, blame Zimmer, even KOC/KAM to an extent, but for all Kirk's mobility and other issues, the Vikings weren't going to go far into the postseason with teams like SF and Philly that could manhandle us in the trenches all game long.
Last season, we got a bit better in IOL, Ingram in particular seemed to take a MUCH needed step forward...and, for the moment, it looks like Sam Darnold will be the one most appreciative.
As much as I truly do hate to see Kirk go, any anger back and forth is futile and frankly wasted. Yes, god forbid, he was a QB in his prime that played-and won-at the negotiating table, whether him or his agent. By the same token, he could win shootouts against GB (not so much a Teddy thing), could definitely be clutch (see: comebacks in 2022), and is nudging our most legendary QBs in our record books as far as production. No, he didn't get a bunch of postseason laurels, because the team, frankly, didn't deserve them.
He gets to ride off into the sunset as "the man" for one last contract. KAM/KOC can finally step up and build the offense around their vision...and we can finally see what that is.
Hopefully, everybody wins.
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