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Giving a truckload of money to Kirk Cousins has made it even more imperative for the Vikings to have a strong draft next month.
NFL analysts generally don’t see the three-year, fully guaranteed $84 million contract that the free-agent quarterback signed earlier this month hampering Minnesota’s salary-cap situation significantly moving forward. Then again, that is under the assumption the Vikings are able to assure themselves with needed depth with some solid work in the draft.
“If you pay a quarterback (big money), it’s going to change your team,’’ said NFL Network analyst Charley Casserly, a former NFL executive who won three Super Bowls with Washington. “But Green Bay has been a consistent winner and they’ve had to pay a quarterback (Aaron Rodgers) for quite some time. Atlanta has to pay a quarterback (Matt Ryan) and they’ve had their best years recently. … It can be done, but the key is draft well and developing players.’’
In addition to signing Cousins to a deal worth an average of $28 million per season, the highest annual average in NFL history, the Vikings in free agency signed defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson to a one-year, $8 million deal that could be worth as much as $11 million with incentives.
According to the NFL Players Association, the Vikings had $20.399 million of salary-cap room left before signing free-agent guard Tom Compton last week. With Compton getting a base salary of $800,000, they will drop down to having a bit less than $20 million.
That still keeps Minnesota in the upper third among teams with the most cap room. But the Vikings have some key players they want to offer extensions, which could cut into more than half their remaining dollars.
https://www.twincities.com/2018/03/25/af...ings-need/
“(Cousins’ contract is) the cost of doing business in today’s NFL,’’ said CBS analyst Rich Gannon, a Vikings quarterback from 1987-92. “People can hem and haw all they want. People can say, ‘It’s too much,’ and all that stuff. … But the bottom line is if you’re a team that has (a quality quarterback), you’re going to pay some money to keep him and if you’re a team that doesn’t have one, you’re going to pay handsomely to get one.’’
Gannon believes Cousins, who has a salary-cap number of $24 million for 2018, is a “talented and smart player” who will help the Vikings. He also liked the move on Richardson, a former Pro Bowl selection he expects will “flourish’’ with the Vikings.
“I think they’ve been smart in how they’ve assembled this team,’’ Gannon said.
Casserly also has liked what the Vikings have done in free agency.
“I’m anxious to see what Kirk does with an overall better group than he had in Washington,’’ Casserly said. “And we know what Richardson can do on a good day or a good play. … And going forward, they believe they’ve got a number of players they can get signed (to extensions).’’
Barr is on the books to make $12.3 million in 2017. Fitzgerald could see Minnesota doing an extension with a big signing bonus that could be spread out over the life of the contract and lower his 2018 salary-cap number.
Fitzgerald expects Hunter could command a deal worth $14 million a year, the going rate for a top pass rusher. But Fitzgerald believes Hunter could be a candidate for a franchise tag after the season, which means he might not take a bigger dent out this season’s cap.
Fitzgerald could see Diggs getting an extension worth at least $11 million annually and Kendricks getting one worth about $8 million a year.
I'm surprised someone on this board with some math skill and a bit of time hasn't broken down what it will take to extend Barr, Kendricks, Diggs and Waynes' (5th year option) based on their salary estimations, the projected cap increases, and how that will or will not allow us to keep all of our players within the cap.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
I'm surprised someone on this board with some math skill and a bit of time hasn't broken down what it will take to extend Barr, Kendricks, Diggs and Waynes' (5th year option) based on their salary estimations, the projected cap increases, and how that will or will not allow us to keep all of our players within the cap.
yeah, Guru has done that. Its in one of the 47 can we afford Cousins threads IIRC.
Quote: @RushmoreVike said:
@ MaroonBells said:
I'm surprised someone on this board with some math skill and a bit of time hasn't broken down what it will take to extend Barr, Kendricks, Diggs and Waynes' (5th year option) based on their salary estimations, the projected cap increases, and how that will or will not allow us to keep all of our players within the cap.
yeah, Guru has done that. Its in one of the 47 can we afford Cousins threads IIRC.
I'll have to check that out. So what was the result?
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ RushmoreVike said:
@ MaroonBells said:
I'm surprised someone on this board with some math skill and a bit of time hasn't broken down what it will take to extend Barr, Kendricks, Diggs and Waynes' (5th year option) based on their salary estimations, the projected cap increases, and how that will or will not allow us to keep all of our players within the cap.
yeah, Guru has done that. Its in one of the 47 can we afford Cousins threads IIRC.
I'll have to check that out. So what was the result?
Basically, the break point was if we paid Cousins 30+ million per year we wouldn't be able to bring back all 4 (Barr, Diggs, Kendricks, and Hunter) at market rate deals... but at 27-28 million per, the Vikings should be able to retain them since it gives them a little more flexibility in how they structure the contracts.
Obviously things can change (contract demands, injuries, etc.) but the underlying message was that the Vikings should have the ability to keep them all. We'll see what happens.
Quote: @Wetlander said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ RushmoreVike said:
@ MaroonBells said:
I'm surprised someone on this board with some math skill and a bit of time hasn't broken down what it will take to extend Barr, Kendricks, Diggs and Waynes' (5th year option) based on their salary estimations, the projected cap increases, and how that will or will not allow us to keep all of our players within the cap.
yeah, Guru has done that. Its in one of the 47 can we afford Cousins threads IIRC.
I'll have to check that out. So what was the result?
Basically, the break point was if we paid Cousins 30+ million per year we wouldn't be able to bring back all 4 (Barr, Diggs, Kendricks, and Hunter) at market rate deals... but at 27-28 million per, the Vikings should be able to retain them since it gives them a little more flexibility in how they structure the contracts.
Obviously things can change (contract demands, injuries, etc.) but the underlying message was that the Vikings should have the ability to keep them all. We'll see what happens.
I believe the break point was at 26 million( i might be wrong here). after that it became a bit of an issue in retaining our own players.
Quote: @RushmoreVike said:
I believe the break point was at 26 million( i might be wrong here). after that it became a bit of an issue in retaining our own players.
This is what he said about two weeks ago...
"I would have to look back at what I wrote exactly, but with the
assumption they were going to front load the deal anything in the
$27-28M range was alright. Issues were created when you front-loaded and
still have an AAV of $30M.
Once Kirk wanted a 3-year deal I
figured they would backload it since they can massage that 3rd year into
a potential extension if everything goes well. On a 3-year deal they
could have done $30M but $28M leaves them plenty of space to operate and
allows them to utilize cap carryover to work their extensions in."
Quote: @Wetlander said:
@ RushmoreVike said:
I believe the break point was at 26 million( i might be wrong here). after that it became a bit of an issue in retaining our own players.
This is what he said about two weeks ago...
"I would have to look back at what I wrote exactly, but with the
assumption they were going to front load the deal anything in the
$27-28M range was alright. Issues were created when you front-loaded and
still have an AAV of $30M.
Once Kirk wanted a 3-year deal I
figured they would backload it since they can massage that 3rd year into
a potential extension if everything goes well. On a 3-year deal they
could have done $30M but $28M leaves them plenty of space to operate and
allows them to utilize cap carryover to work their extensions in."
I was going off what he wrote prior to Kirk signing his deal. either way...
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