Next years QB

[J. Kapp 11]

Last time a QB getting paid over $20 million-a-year led a team to the Super Bowl?

Zero.

Focus that money on resigning our defensive players. Cousins will command top dollar.

That's misleading. The era of $20 million quarterbacks hasn't been around that long.

It's also untrue. Matt Ryan made $23.75 million in 2016 ($15.75 million in salary, $8 million in bonus). Tom Brady's average compensation for his current contract is over $20 million, even though his "salary" is technically $1 million.

As for focusing money on the defense -- no team that spent more money on defense than offense has won the Super Bowl in the past five years (which is the farthest Over The Cap goes back), and only one team has even made it. Take a guess which unit the Vikings spent the most on last year.

[J. Kapp 11]

Wow Smith got PAID. The only prayer the Vikings have is if Cousins really puts playing for a good team over money. And even then, no OC hurts those odds even more. It is interesting Smith more or less got the long term deal they wouldn't give Cousins.

Looks like the Vikings will be overpaying no matter who they grab.

If the rumors about Stefanski are true, I'd have to think that it makes it more likely that we work something out with Case. I'm intrigued by the possibility of landing Cousins, though. I think he is worth the extra money and has a much higher ceiling than Case. The one thing I do really like about Case is his leadership qualities, his character, and his connection to this team's players. I don't know what to think about Cousins regarding those intangibles. It seems that some Skins fans think he is a delicate one. Whenever I have watched him, I see a dude with major talent and lots of grit.

This is a great question. The answer depends on whom you ask.

Scot McCloughan, the Redskins' former GM, has one take.

“He’s a good player. Is he special? I don’t see special. But also, we were still building a roster around him to make him special.”

Mike Shanahan, on the other hand, has a different take. He has said the sky is the limit for Cousins.

“There’s no question in my mind that he’s a special player,” Shanahan said of Cousins. “If you don’t think he’s a special player, that means you don’t watch him practice very often. You take a look at some of the games he’s played in. He hasn’t played with a good defense that’s been in the upper half of the league, I don’t think, since he’s been there. You can’t always do it by yourself. You got to have an offense and a defense for a quarterback to be really successful … especially when you get in the playoffs. But I guarantee you he’s a special guy.”

Let's see. Failed GM or two-time Super Bowl winning coach? Hmmmm. Tough call.

[PurpleMustReign]

Idk, I've just never been too impressed with Cousins. He has taken some mediocre Washington WR corps and made them look pretty solid, but all I can think of is how Case took the team by the horns and had an awesome season. The look on his face when he led the SKOL chant after the TD against the Saints convinced me that he deserves a chance to get the job done here. Whether system or talent, Case had an extraordinary year and I want him to have another chance here.

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk

[Pondering Her Percy]

I mean Case is no doubt my second option behind Cousins. Mainly because yes, Cousins has a higher ceiling. ALSO, this has been Case's only good year in the league. So with Shurmur gone, it does make me nervous. Because Case very well could have been a product of that system. Maybe not though? Who knows. But if we are considering tagging Case or only throwing him $5 mill less than Cousins, just go after Cousins

[Pondering Her Percy]

Lots of teams in market for a QB, Buffalo and Cleveland,Jets, Cardinals some others also,Do you think Cousins will command 25-30 mil?

There had been talk that Washington might put the transition tag on Cousins, setting his salary at $28 million and forcing other teams to offer more. But with Smith coming on board, it seems highly unlikely to me (even borderline stupid) that they would use the transition tag. Another team with a lot of cap space, like Jacksonville or the Jets, could blow the $28 million out of the water by offering Cousins a hugely front-loaded deal. Washington wouldn't have the cap space to match. If nobody matches, the Skins are stuck with his contract.

With Smith reportedly being offered an extension by the Redskins for $23.5 million per year, tagging Cousins could end up being a disaster. It could force the 'Skins to tie up more than $50 million for two guys who play the same position. I just can't see them risking it. But what do I know?

With this trade for Smith, it sure seems like the Redskins are going to let Cousins walk. If that's the case, this is about to get really interesting.

It was reported that Jacksonville is going to keep Bortles according to Rapapport. The only two teams above us with more cap space that need a QB are the Browns and Jets. Neither are very appealing for Cousins if you ask me

[Pondering Her Percy]

Teams cap space that need a QB currently:

Browns~ $109 million

Jets~ $72 million

Vikings~ $52 million (Spotrac is saying $56)

Bills~ $29 million

Broncos~ $26 million

Cardinals~ $8 million


As you can see, after us, there is a drastic drop off. This also goes to show just how good of a job Spielman and Zim have done to have such a good roster and still have a top of cap space. All of those teams listed are mostly weaker, bottom of the barrel teams. There isnt a team up there more appealing than us. I dont see how Buffalo, Denver or Arizona can even swing it. Unless they make some drastic cuts. Which I'm sure some will do but as of right now, it looks like us, NY and Cleveland. One thing that I will say is we have never been a team thats been in cap hell.

Also, is Shariff Floyds contract included in that? It looks like on spotrac it is. Thats another $6 million. We can release Floyd post 6/1/18 and save all of that by the looks of it.

Also guys like B-Rob and Wright are taking up $8-9 million. We can save $3 million if we cut Wright post 6/1 but have around $1.5 in dead money. We can clear $2.2 mill if we cut B-Rob post 6/1 but have over $1 mill in dead money or save all of it if we trade him for peanuts post 6/1

The more I look at this whole thing with Cousins the more I think its doable. This is going to get interesting

[akvikingsfan]

Can someone please fill me in on why we’re so fascinated by Cousins? He had an outstanding year in 2016 (almost 5,000 yards) and two other 4,000 yard seasons. But he doesn’t win. In those three seasons the Skins were 9-7, 8-7-1, and 7-9. I don’t think he’s worth the kind of money people are talking about and I believe his stats have been inflated from putting up yards late in games when the Skins were losing (I don’t know this for a fact, it’s an assumption I’m making), similar to Stafford. Now, I don’t follow the Skins and haven’t watched many of their games, so if there’s something I’m missing please let me know, but I just don’t see why we want to spend $20mil/year on him.

[fiestavike]

Teams cap space that need a QB currently:

Browns~ $109 million

Jets~ $72 million

Vikings~ $52 million (Spotrac is saying $56)

Bills~ $29 million

Broncos~ $26 million

Cardinals~ $8 million


As you can see, after us, there is a drastic drop off. This also goes to show just how good of a job Spielman and Zim have done to have such a good roster and still have a top of cap space. All of those teams listed are mostly weaker, bottom of the barrel teams. There isnt a team up there more appealing than us. I dont see how Buffalo, Denver or Arizona can even swing it. Unless they make some drastic cuts. Which I'm sure some will do but as of right now, it looks like us, NY and Cleveland. One thing that I will say is we have never been a team thats been in cap hell.

Also, is Shariff Floyds contract included in that? It looks like on spotrac it is. Thats another $6 million. We can release Floyd post 6/1/18 and save all of that by the looks of it.

Also guys like B-Rob and Wright are taking up $8-9 million. We can save $3 million if we cut Wright post 6/1 but have around $1.5 in dead money. We can clear $2.2 mill if we cut B-Rob post 6/1 but have over $1 mill in dead money or save all of it if we trade him for peanuts post 6/1

The more I look at this whole thing with Cousins the more I think its doable. This is going to get interesting

Don't forget Latavius Murray. They might also be able to get Rudolph to restructure.

[ChicagoViking]

The look on his face when he led the SKOL chant after the TD against the Saints convinced me that he deserves a chance to get the job done here.

Really? The look on his face when he led the Skol chant? That's the bar for whether Keenum deserves a chance to get the job done here?

[JDLon]

he doesn’t win.In those three seasons the Skins were 9-7, 8-7-1, and 7-9.

Well the yardage is so high because the defence ship so many points...which is also why his wins aren't that great. Look at last season, 7 of those 9 loses involved conceding 30+ points. There isn't a lot a QB can do against that (the other two were 29 points and 18 points last game of the season with nothing to play for)

[mansquatch]

Wow Smith got PAID. The only prayer the Vikings have is if Cousins really puts playing for a good team over money. And even then, no OC hurts those odds even more. It is interesting Smith more or less got the long term deal they wouldn't give Cousins.

Looks like the Vikings will be overpaying no matter who they grab.

It is NFL QBs, no matter who they get they are going to have to PAY. Might as well pay for the guy with the best track record/injury history.

[Rhodes Closed]

Can someone please fill me in on why we’re so fascinated by Cousins? He had an outstanding year in 2016 (almost 5,000 yards) and two other 4,000 yard seasons. But he doesn’t win. In those three seasons the Skins were 9-7, 8-7-1, and 7-9. I don’t think he’s worth the kind of money people are talking about and I believe his stats have been inflated from putting up yards late in games when the Skins were losing (I don’t know this for a fact, it’s an assumption I’m making), similar to Stafford. Now, I don’t follow the Skins and haven’t watched many of their games, so if there’s something I’m missing please let me know, but I just don’t see why we want to spend $20mil/year on him.

Looking at those years, here's what we can glean from those seasons, defensively for the Redskins:

2015: 24 Points Against (17th)
2016: 24 Points Against (19th)
2017: 24 Points Against (27th)

On average, the defense gave up 24 points a game for three years in a row, which is not stellar defense. Comparatively, the Vikings in the same three seasons:

2015: 19 Points Against (5th)
2016: 19 Points Against (6th)
2017: 16 Points Against (1st)

The key difference is not that Cousins couldn't win, it's that the Redskins defenses always ranked amongst the lower half in the league, the most egregious of those years being this year, when they were downright awful. With our defense, Kirk Cousins would likely have been leading the Redskins to the playoffs every single one of those years. (I'm not even getting into our offenses, because the Redskins offenses were much better than ours bar 2017).

[Cliff]

I don't see Cousins as a big improvement over Keenum. I think the total yards numbers are very misleading when comparing the two players. Case had 59 fewer attempts and a *lot* fewer "garbage time" yards as the Vikings were running at the end of games mostly not passing against weaker prevent situations. Case had the higher rating last year, completion percentage.

When comparing Cousins and Keenum it seems like you might as well go with the guy who already has a relationship with the team and receivers. Of course if you believe Keenum's performance was a fluke rather than an elongated progression to become a better player - five years to 'blossom' instead of the normal three that people tend to look for - then Cousins makes sense. Otherwise I just don't see it.

[halfgiz]

I'm not so sure Rick would get in a bidding war for Cousins. With smith gone the demand for Cousins will go up.
Myself I would sooner save the money and build our team.
If our offensive Line would have been better at the end of the season I think Case could have got us to the SB.
We were soooo close this year.

[Texas Vike]

The look on his face when he led the SKOL chant after the TD against the Saints convinced me that he deserves a chance to get the job done here.

Really? The look on his face when he led the Skol chant? That's the bar for whether Keenum deserves a chance to get the job done here?

Took the words out of my mouth.