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On Monday, Julie Cousins placed an order on Amazon for a purple-and-yellow striped tie. Her husband, Kirk, would need it on Thursday for the first day of his new job.
“The two-day shipping came through for us,” Kirk Cousins said over the phone from the Vikings’ new headquarters in Eagan, Minn. “We had it down to a couple teams, so it wasn’t too much of a risk.”
Cousins was wearing that tie as he spoke, fresh off the podium from his introductory press conference as the Vikings’ new quarterback, in which he expertly deflected questions about Super Bowl expectations and referred to legendary Minneapolis sports columnist Sid Hartman by name. Cousins is the type of guy who is prepared for everything, although the past 72 hours had moved at a pace faster than even he had anticipated.
He was in a unique position, a 29-year-old quarterback with 57 games of starting experience hitting free agency, his years’ worth of betting on himself providing an uncommon degree of leverage. The three-year, $84 million contract Cousins signed Thursday afternoon made him not only the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL but also the first player to earn a fully guaranteed multiyear deal (and it wasn’t even the largest contract offer he received). It was the kind of deal Cousins’ previous team, Washington, wasn’t willing to commit to, and which has the potential to change the way top players handle their future negotiations.
“It’s no different than any other business in terms of using leverage and trying to find the right fit,” Cousins says. “There’s a lot of variables that come into play. But I think it says a lot about the ownership here, and their commitment to winning, and what they are trying to do to make sure we have all the resources needed to win a world championship.”
https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/03/16/kirk-c...t-contract
Earlier in the week, ESPN reported that members of the Washington organization were talking down Cousins at the combine. The team’s former G.M., Scot McCloughan, also told a Denver radio station in January that he didn’t see Cousins as a “special” player. During Cousins’ three full seasons as Washington's starter, he threw for 4,000 yards each year, and the team made the playoffs once. In response, Cousins invoked a quote from John Wooden, the legendary UCLA basketball coach.
“You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one,” he says. “That’s a quote that I have heard many times before. I just keep my blinders on and stay focused on the task ahead and believe that if you work hard and keep your mouth shut, good things will happen to you.”
An $84 million contract can do a lot of things: It makes clear the Vikings’ belief that Cousins can be that special player, and it also voids that underrated, overlooked persona that Cousins has embraced for most of his football career. The rest? That’s up to Cousins.
An $84 million contract can do a lot of things: It makes clear the Vikings’ belief that Cousins can be that special player, and it also voids that underrated, overlooked persona that Cousins has embraced for most of his football career. The rest? That’s up to Cousins.
This money will really test how grounded Cousins really is, everything I read says the big contract wont change him, but money and prestige have diseased many healthy people in the past. Hopefully he is who we think he is.... and they want to crown his ass in February 2019.
Quote: @"purplefaithful" said:
Earlier in the week, ESPN reported that members of the Washington organization were talking down Cousins at the combine. The team’s former G.M., Scot McCloughan, also told a Denver radio station in January that he didn’t see Cousins as a “special” player. During Cousins’ three full seasons as Washington's starter, he threw for 4,000 yards each year, and the team made the playoffs once. In response, Cousins invoked a quote from John Wooden, the legendary UCLA basketball coach.
“You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one,” he says. “That’s a quote that I have heard many times before. I just keep my blinders on and stay focused on the task ahead and believe that if you work hard and keep your mouth shut, good things will happen to you.”
An $84 million contract can do a lot of things: It makes clear the Vikings’ belief that Cousins can be that special player, and it also voids that underrated, overlooked persona that Cousins has embraced for most of his football career. The rest? That’s up to Cousins.
I think its important to note that Kyle Shannahan thought the world of Kirk when he worked with him as a QB coach before getting his OC job in ATL and HC job in San Francisco. From those that know him well, there is almost zero doubt that Kirk would be in San Fran if it weren't for the Garapollo traded. So him saying that isn't just coach talk.
So how special or not Cousins is really depends on who you talk to.
Quote: @"Geoff Nichols" said:
@"purplefaithful" said:
Earlier in the week, ESPN reported that members of the Washington organization were talking down Cousins at the combine. The team’s former G.M., Scot McCloughan, also told a Denver radio station in January that he didn’t see Cousins as a “special” player. During Cousins’ three full seasons as Washington's starter, he threw for 4,000 yards each year, and the team made the playoffs once. In response, Cousins invoked a quote from John Wooden, the legendary UCLA basketball coach.
“You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one,” he says. “That’s a quote that I have heard many times before. I just keep my blinders on and stay focused on the task ahead and believe that if you work hard and keep your mouth shut, good things will happen to you.”
An $84 million contract can do a lot of things: It makes clear the Vikings’ belief that Cousins can be that special player, and it also voids that underrated, overlooked persona that Cousins has embraced for most of his football career. The rest? That’s up to Cousins.
I think its important to note that Kyle Shannahan thought the world of Kirk when he worked with him as a QB coach before getting his OC job in ATL and HC job in San Francisco. From those that know him well, there is almost zero doubt that Kirk would be in San Fran if it weren't for the Garapollo traded. So him saying that isn't just coach talk.
So how special or not Cousins is really depends on who you talk to.
His dad also thought a lot of Kirk... I have a feeling his preference for Cousins over RGIII led to his firing.
KC Joyner, NFL writer: The Vikings signing Kirk Cousins. Famed Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi once said there is no price that is too high to pay for a franchise quarterback, so forget the big price tag for Cousins. Only Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Matt Ryan have posted a higher total for yards per attempt on vertical passes (aerials thrown 11 or more yards downfield) than Cousins over the past two years. This downfield prowess could be the push Minnesota needs to get back to the Super Bowl.
Quote:
but also the first player to earn a fully guaranteed multiyear deal (and it wasn’t even the largest contract offer he received). It was the kind of deal Cousins’ previous team, Washington, wasn’t willing to commit to, and which has the potential to change the way top players handle their future negotiations.
They are still pushing that line. Really irrelevant. It is a 3 year contract, not 5 or 7. From my understanding, there have been several other contracts with 3 years guaranteed but the contract was for longer so the "entire contract" wasn't guaranteed. And even if the 3 years aren't guaranteed, most big signings will make it through the first 3 years or the team is probably worse off than if they had guaranteed 3 years.
Pretty sure he had MN already picked out when he came in for the Super Bowl and looked around to see if it was a good place to raise his family, followed by a great chance to win. From there it was just about getting paid to play
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