The GM Game: Cousins Contract

[Buddah]

It is obvious that we will be going after Cousins. People believe that
he will take less to play for us because of our talent. How less is a
slippery slope when it comes to what we offer. If we screw the pooch, and Cousins decides to go elsewhere, we might get desperate.  Let us play a little game.  You get the chance to play GM and offer Cousins and his agent a contract offer.  Forget the actual restaurant you take him to and the stars you bring along to encourage him to sign with us.  While the pitch is important and we will do as such with Cousins including showing him our state of the art training facility, let us just discuss numbers and any specifics of the contract.

So this is my contract
offer and would go up to $28 million/year if that was the deal breaker, but I am going to push for less in hopes to retain our talent in the future and will press upon Cousins that we are building a winner here and want to keep it that way. I offer a $25 million/year, 5 year guaranteed contact which no one has ever had
before. The Vikings would offer a lot of upfront money in the first
year to lessen the 2nd and 3rd years. The cap will increase over time
and the 4th and 5th years would be less impacted and would stay at $25
million/year. I would also offer Kirk an option in the 4th year if he
chooses that he wants out of his contact early. The option is only for
him. I would hope the guaranteed contract is something that shows we
are serious and to test how greedy he will be if he wants more.  We can give him a signing bonus of $35,000,000 similar to Garappolo and move most of that money to the 1st year.

In comparison, this is Garappolo's contract:
5 yrs/$137,500,000 (signing bonus - $35 mill), average salary $27,500,000 with total guarantee of $74,100,000.

[Guest]

I still dont think there is much of a chance Cousins gets 30 million. Every GM going after him can simply say 30 million, really!!!!  Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rogers, Mathew Stafford, and  Matt Ryan do make that type of money.  Are you telling us that Cousins is better than all of them.  Is it because of his super bowl wins, or his previous MVPs, or his offensive player of the year awards, or his leading the league in TD passes passing yards or maybe his career winning percentage.  The only justification for 30 million Cousins agent really has is that Cousins is the best FA QB available this year.  
I do believe he would take a little less to play for a winning organization.  I think comparing Garappolo's contract is a little bit apples and oranges.  Garappolo has been sitting behind Tom Brady for years earning backup money and never seeing the field, of course he is going to jump at the big money to lead a team that is not far from contending.  Cousins on the other hand has pocketed 46 million from washington 44 million in the last 2 years.  He made 23 million last year so a 3 year contract at 28 million a year from a contender VS 30 million from a team like the jets who has released the entire team seems like a no brainer especially from a guy who according to this quote from CNBC doesnt think money is all that matters.

This NFL starting quarterback drives a dented van he bought from his grandma for $5,000.
Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins made $19.9 million last year. This year, he'll earn $23.9 million.Sep 24, 2017

Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins drives a dented van

https://www.cnbc.com/.../washington-reds...s-a-dented.

[Guest]

@Jamie Demaree said:

I do believe he would take a little less to play for a winning organization.  I think comparing Garappolo's contract is a little bit apples and oranges.

He is presently the highest paid QB in the league.  That is why I mentioned his contract.  It is all about supply and demand.  When a QB throw for over 4,000 yards 3 years in a row, people what would happen if he did it with a team with more talent.

[Guest]

Here are two deals that I would offer (guru likely has better deals with much less signing bonus) ...

This deal is where we see if he is truly willing to sacrifice but still gets 91 mil over 3 years (I like this one)

5 year 125 mil deal with a 45 mil signing bonus, 74 mil guar at signing, 91 mil guar for injury (first 3 years)
Year    Base Salary    Signing    Roster    Workout    Cap Hit        Dead Cap    Cap Savings
2018    $8,000,000     $9,000,000     $5,000,000     $100,000     $22,100,000
2019    $11,000,000     $9,000,000     $5,000,000     $100,000     $25,100,000
2020    $12,000,000     $9,000,000     $5,000,000     $100,000     $26,100,000         $27,000,000     ($900,000)
2021    $12,000,000     $9,000,000     $5,000,000     $100,000     $26,100,000         $18,000,000     $8,100,000
2022    $12,000,000     $9,000,000     $5,000,000     $100,000     $26,100,000         $9,000,000     $17,100,000
Total    $55,000,000     $45,000,000     $25,000,000     $500,000     $125,500,000


This deal would make him the highest paid QB and give him 91 over 3 years

5 year 140 mil deal with a 45 mil signing bonus, 74 mil guar at signing, 91 mil guar for injury (first 3 years)
Year    Base Salary    Signing    Roster    Workout    Cap Hit        Dead Cap    Cap Savings
2018    $8,000,000     $9,000,000     $5,000,000     $100,000     $22,100,000
2019    $11,000,000     $9,000,000     $5,000,000     $100,000     $25,100,000
2020    $12,000,000     $9,000,000     $5,000,000     $100,000     $26,100,000         $27,000,000     ($900,000)
2021    $19,000,000     $9,000,000     $5,000,000     $100,000     $33,100,000         $18,000,000     $15,100,000
2022    $20,000,000     $9,000,000     $5,000,000     $100,000     $34,100,000         $9,000,000     $25,100,000
Total    $70,000,000     $45,000,000     $25,000,000     $500,000     $140,500,000

Either way they should be able to get it done.

I mean, some folks were saying they should tag Keenum for 23 mil this year.  These deals get Cousins for less in year 1.

[Guest]

@Buddah said:

@Jamie Demaree said:

I do believe he would take a little less to play for a winning organization.  I think comparing Garappolo's contract is a little bit apples and oranges.

He is presently the highest paid QB in the league.  That is why I mentioned his contract.  It is all about supply and demand.  When a QB throw for over 4,000 yards 3 years in a row, people what would happen if he did it with a team with more talent.

Actually he is the 6th highest paid QB in the NFL @23,943,600. Stafford 27 million, Carr 25 million, 24,595,000 million, Palmer 24,350,000 million, Brees 24,250,000 million, and that doesnt include Brady, Rogers, Roethlisberger who deserve to be on the top of that list. With the exception of Palmer, Cousins isnt better than any of them and that is my point.  Blake Bortles has averaged 4000 yards the last 3 seasons also and his team went deep into the playoffs. And there was talk of him being released earlier this off season so there is more to it then stats.  

[Guest]

In February, Jimmy Garoppolo became the highest-paid player in the NFL,
this after signing a five-year, $137.5 million contract with the San
Francisco 49ers. That’s $27.5 million per year, with $74 million fully
guaranteed.

[Guest]

I would just like to say that we should take Prince's hologram from the Superbowl with as our celebrity.