Daniel Jones (probably) just made Kirk Cousins a lot more expensive for the Vikings

With the New York Giants signing Daniel Jones to a lucrative extension on Tuesday, it might be harder for the Minnesota Vikings to afford extending Kirk Cousins.

Negotiations with Kirk Cousins likely just got a lot more difficult for the Minnesota Vikings following the news on Tuesday that the New York Giants and Daniel Jones have agreed to a new four-year contract worth $160 million.

That’s an average annual salary of $40 million for a quarterback in Jones who hasn’t thrown for more than 15 touchdowns in either of his last three seasons in the NFL.

If you don’t think Cousins and his agent aren’t going to attempt to get an extension from the Vikings that will pay him a higher average per year than Jones, then you probably haven’t been paying attention to each of the Minnesota quarterback’s previous contract negotiations in his pro career.

Did the New York Giants and Daniel Jones just make the decision about Kirk Cousins easier for the Minnesota Vikings?

If the Jones contract truly did increase the amount of money that Cousins is looking for in an extension, then it might have actually made the Vikings’ decision about the future of their quarterback much easier to figure out.

Minnesota likely has a number for Cousins that they’re not willing to go over, and if the Jones’ deal exceeded that amount, then the team could decide to leave their longtime starting quarterback without an extension before the 2023 season.

There’s also a small chance that Cousins could potentially just be looking for a fair amount in an extension from the Vikings instead of looking to break the bank. He’s been with Minnesota since 2018, and he might not be interested in making negotiations too difficult with a team that he would like to remain with for the rest of his career.

Luckily, with free agency set to kick off next week, we probably won’t have to wait much longer to find out what the Vikings will decide to do with Cousins.