Slick Rick wrote:TSonn wrote:“Is money a part of it? Sure. Is it the only thing? No,” Cousins said on PFT Live. “It is about winning, and that’s what I want more than anything, so I’m going to be willing to make sacrifices or do what has to be done to make sure I’m in the best possible position to win, and that’s what the focus is going to be.”
We should offer him $100M over 4 years and see if he takes it.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... -help-win/
I think we should let the Jets pay him $25M for 5 years and bring back one of our guys who's already in touch with our current offense, like Case Keenum. Even if it costs us $20M for a year of his service, if he kills it again then you can probably get him for a longer term deal and you can be more confident that he's going to come back and produce rather than just signing a long term deal with someone like Cousins. It's not much different from bringing someone in from the draft other than that Cousins has proven himself at the NFL level, but he hasn't proven that he can work with our players, our coaches and be what the Vikings want and need him to be. Case Keenum and Teddy Bridgewater have, but there are definitely risks with them too.
I'll go out on a limb here and say the only way the Vikes keep Keenum this year is if they franchise him. He had a great season and it's a QB-starved league. Someone will be willing to offer him a multi-year deal with enough up front to ensure he'll take the offer. So for the Vikings to keep him, they'd either have to match that up front or, if they're still not convinced he warrants a multi-year commitment, they're going to have to use the franchise tag on him. And if they did that, and I were his agent, I'd insist that one-year deal include a clause that prevents the Vikings from using the franchise tag on him the following year.
But here's my main problem with that - Keenum wasn't consistent enough to warrant either a long-term deal or the franchise tag. He had issues seeing and hitting open deep receivers, which cost the Vikings scoring opportunities, especially as the season went on. His accuracy was off at times. Some simple throws against Philly were horribly botched at a time when every easy throw had to be made. He had ball security issues that resulted in costly fumbles and interceptions, with the highlight being the duck he lobbed against Philly that resulted in a defensive score for the Eagles.
I'm not saying this was endemic or typified his season. He performed very well at times, but I keep wondering if people aren't looking at Keenum and his performance in relative terms (i.e. this guy was a 3rd-stringer playing under a minimum deal and look what he did!). If you look at him as simple starting QB, he looks less impressive, especially in the playoffs. If you look at him compared to other FA QBs who are looking for longer-term, larger deals and starting gigs, Keenum starts to look much less attractive, at least to me. He just hasn't done it at a high enough level long enough and for enough time for me to be sold that he belongs in the long-term commitment, NFL starting QB conversation.
I feel the same way about Bridgewater, albeit far less certain about his longer term viability as a starting QB (or even a backup, for that matter).
That really leaves the Vikings with a single on-roster option in Bradford, and while I understand the concerns about his knee holding up, he's also the only guy on the roster that is a guy defenses might be actually afraid of given his ability to sling the ball and his consistent mid and deep range accuracy. If Bradford is healthy and has time, he'll do to almost every defense what he did against the Saints to start the season, especially if he has a run/pass option with a healthy Dalvin Cook and he has TE's he trusts can get open and catch the ball.
Cousins would do well with the Vikings too for much the same reason.
Brees would probably make the Vikings Superbowl favorites heading into next season. I just don't see him leaving New Orleans.