
The Vikings remained publicly agnostic about their quarterbacking options at the NFL combine; coach Mike Zimmer laid out the strengths and weaknesses of all his in-house candidates, while general manager Rick Spielman batted away a report that the Vikings have decided not to use the franchise tag on Case Keenum and said the team had not made a decision on any of its options.
Privately, though, the team gave indications it was marshaling resources for a run at Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins, assessing its salary cap situation for the lucrative contract Cousins would receive while grousing about the flurry of rumors that could serve to drive up the price of free-agent quarterbacks.
The Vikings' decision not to offer a restricted free agent tender to offensive lineman Jeremiah Sirles — a versatile backup whom the team would like to retain — was driven at least in part by the fact that the lowest RFA tender this year is $1.9 million, which would only guarantee the Vikings the right to match any offers while stripping away their ability to design a contract with a cap figure to their liking. When you're trying to squirrel away money for a pricey QB contract, every dollar is important, and while the Vikings weren't sending quite the same signals they did last year — when they effectively told free agents they'd get back to them after solving their offensive line issues first — there's little doubt their quarterback situation tops their March to-do list.
Coach Mike Zimmer cautioned last week that a quarterback move shouldn't come at the expense of the rest of the roster, and deals affecting Zimmer's defense comprise an outsized portion of the Vikings' potential contract extensions in the next year. Defensive end Danielle Hunter, linebackers Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr (as well as wide receiver Stefon Diggs) will all be free agents after 2018, meaning the Vikings need to determine whether they'd be able to retain all of their core players with a big QB contract.
But the good news for Zimmer is, the Vikings might be able to do it all.
After talking to a number of NFL sources at the combine last week, I thought we'd go through a little exercise this morning, to take an educated guess at how the Vikings might be able to get a deal done with Cousins, retain a number of their own free agents and leave themselves enough money for other deals this year and extensions in the future.
The Vikings still have about $13.77 million in salary cap space in the 2017 league year, according to sources with access to NFLPA salary data, meaning they'll be able to add that amount to a 2018 cap that league sources project to be around $178 million. That would leave the Vikings with an adjusted cap of $191.77 million for next year, giving them close to $49 million in cap space before free agency. If the salary cap continues to rise at a rate of around $11-12 million a year, as it has in recent seasons, it would be around $189-190 million in 2019 and between $200 and $202 million in 2020 (before team-specific adjustments).
Cousins is believed to be seeking a shorter deal that would guarantee all or most of his money and allow him another shot at the open market in three or four years. In order to be the highest-paid QB in the league, he'd need to surpass the $27.5 million average annual value in Jimmy Garoppolo's deal with the 49ers.