Kirk Cousins can get even more money from the Vikings with incentives

The new Minnesota Vikings quarterback could make even more than the fully guaranteed $84 million he’s now due if he is able to lead the team to a Super Bowl victory.

Everyone knew it was going to take a lot of money to sign Kirk Cousins this offseason. It seems as though Cousins has preferred joining the Minnesota Vikings over others for quite some time now, but that didn’t make him cost any less.

On Thursday, the Vikings and the quarterback officially agreed to a three-year, fully guaranteed deal that will pay him at least $84 million. But believe it or not, Cousins can actually make even more than $84 million with this contract.

Minnesota Vikings

According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, the quarterback has a few Super Bowl-related incentives that could result in the total value of his deal ending up at $90 million.

Rapoport mentions that in order for Cousins to get this extra money, he would have to lead Minnesota to a Super Bowl victory in each of the next three seasons. Something that zero Vikings fans would be sad about.

According to Spotrac, Cousins contract carries a $24 million cap hit in 2018, which gives Minnesota around $24 million left to spend this offseason (will be more too with Latavius Murray taking a pay cut). The cap hit for his deal will be $29 million in 2019 and $31 million in 2020.

Some were surprised that the Vikings opted to back-load Cousins’ contract rather than endure the majority of it this year. But with the salary cap continuing to increase each year (up more than $20 million since 2016) and Minnesota also showing their desire to win a championship sooner than later, the layout of his deal is not that surprising.

Next: Realistic free-agent options for the Vikings' offense in 2018

The Vikings proved their commitment to capturing a Super Bowl victory with the signing of Cousins and if they do end up achieving their goal, the quarterback will get a little extra spending money as well.