After going through hell and back trying to identify a franchise quarterback since Daunte Culpepper, the Minnesota Vikings have finally found their guy in Kirk Cousins.
The Minnesota Vikings and Kirk Cousins have reportedly agreed to a three-year deal worth $84 million, fully guaranteed.
Of course, some of the main concerns associated with a contract of this magnitude are geared toward the impact on the cap space and whether you’re able to retain key players, let alone sign additional quality free-agents.
Much like the Seattle Seahawks, once you pay big for a franchise quarterback there will eventually be a residual effect. You will indeed lose some players going for their second contract.
While this may seem frustrating to Vikings fans, the fact is, based on the quarterback market combined with supply and demand, overpaying for what you perceive to be a franchise quarterback is part of the game.
A great supporting cast without quality quarterback play is nothing more than a beautiful waste of time (i.e. the Christian Ponder and Tavaris Jackson eras).
If you do have a great supporting cast, you have two choices. You can get with the program when it comes to acquiring or retaining a legitimate quarterback or you can continue to play it safe with a much lower chance of cashing in on the ultimate goal of a championship.
With this signing, there is little room for error with the remainder of cap space available. Sacrifices are unfortunately part of the process.
During the NFL combine, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer spoke to the media and emphasized the importance of the overall team as a whole that got them to be where they are as one of the best in the NFL.
With Cousins coming on board, Zimmer may not necessarily be thrilled at the possibility of losing players such as Anthony Barr and/or Danielle Hunter.
Having said that, this Vikings team with the current coaching staff and front office has the ability to remain one of the best teams in the NFL, even with the salary demands of Cousins.
There are, however, a few players that must be retained at all costs.
On offense, you must keep Stefon Diggs. If Adam Thielen threatens to hold out for a better deal, then you do what’s necessary to keep him as well.
Yes, you can find receivers anywhere for pennies on the dollar but what raises the value of Diggs and Thielen are their abilities to not only get open on a routine basis but they were both top 10 in contested catches last season (Diggs was number one overall).
On defense, even if you have to lose a few more players than you’d like, Zimmer has shown that he has the ability to not only identify quality players that he can coach, but that also he can get the best out of them on the field.
This gives you a good chance of still filling in the eventual missing pieces of the puzzle, ideally through the draft.
The defensive players that you absolutely must keep, however, are Harrison Smith, Xavier Rhodes, and Eric Kendricks.
Beyond that, Zimmer’s eye for talent paired with Spielman’s history in acquiring players of need however necessary (within reason of course) allows for Minnesota to follow a combo personnel philosophy from the book of the New England Patriots and the Dallas Cowboys.
In the case of the Cowboys, Minnesota would be wise to invest heavily in their offensive line. For now, that can be done by loading up on at least two potential starting guards within the first few rounds of this year’s draft (as you have Riley Rieff through 2021, Pat Elflein on his rookie year through 2020, and Mike Remmers through 2021).
You can never have too many offensive linemen, so it’s vital to continue adding depth through the early rounds of the draft each year.
In the case of the Patriots, the Vikings can operate the defensive personnel on the “next man up” mentality when players are seeking their second contracts.
Free agency is a different story when it comes to the salary cap for Minnesota.
In 2018, the Vikings have a plethora of options as they have approximately $20 million in cap room after taking Cousin’s $28 million into account. With that said, the Vikings have two options.
One, they can use the remaining cap space minus this year’s draft pool to go after a quality free-agent or two including three-technique defensive taclke Sheldon Richardson, who the Vikings have reportedly inquired about.
Minnesota Vikings
This method would provide the most challenging decisions needing to be made in retaining players heading into 2019 (Diggs, Kendricks, and Trae Waynes are also free-agents after this season).
Or two, the Vikings could front-load a significant portion of the $84 million guaranteed to Cousins in 2018, perhaps $40 million.
The benefit of doing this would be to save significant cap space for the remaining two years of the Cousins deal. Front-loading $40 million results in just $44 million owed over the last two years versus $56 million.
This gives you the flexibility to retain more (not all) of your marquee players. Diggs, for example, will likely seek a contract that matches or exceeds the recent Mike Evans deal of $55 million guaranteed, and rightfully so.
Next: Vikings free agent tracker
If Thielen threatens to hold out to seek the same type of deal, you will lose more of the remaining free-agents than you’d hope. Either way, all is not lost with having a great all-around team, even with the signing of Kirk Cousins.