Vikings vs. Kirk Cousins: Team should finally have some leverage in contract talks

Kirk Cousins has given the Vikings five years of stable quarterback play. That might turn into six. It might turn into many more.

But in a twist on the relationship so far, the determination about Cousins' future with the Vikings this offseason might evolve into a more level playing field in which both sides have leverage in negotiations.

To this point, that hasn't been the case. To what extent the Vikings are able to create that leverage will be determined in the next handful of days. And how hard they work to create cap space without doing another Cousins extension could tell us a lot about how they feel about their future with the quarterback — something Ben Goessling and I talked about on Wednesday's Daily Delivery podcast.

To understand how we got here, we must revisit the three times already the Vikings have negotiated a deal with Cousins:

2018: Cousins was a rare above-average QB to hit free agency. The Vikings were coming off an NFC title game appearance but were also seeking stability at quarterback. Cousins and his reps parlayed that leverage into a three-year, fully guaranteed $84 million deal.

2020: Coming off a playoff appearance and Wild Card win over New Orleans, and with just one year left on his original deal, Cousins had the leverage to sign a two-year, $66 million extension that carried his contract through 2022. In the interest of self-preservation and competing for a playoff spot, there was no way Rick Spielman was going to let Cousins get to free agency.

2022: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O'Connell took over, and again Cousins had just one year left on his deal. In order to create some cap space to compete in 2022 and to allow a proper evaluation of Cousins, a one-year extension made sense for both sides. But there was no discount, as Cousins got another $35 million guaranteed for that extra year.

Here we are in 2023. The Vikings need cap space again and are coming off a 13-4 season during which Cousins engineered eight fourth quarter comebacks. But what they presumably don't want is to be boxed into a corner where they need another Cousins extension in the next week to create that space.

So the Eric Kendricks cut came Monday. Potential moves in the coming days involving Adam Thielen (cut or restructure), Za'Darius Smith (cut), Jordan Hicks (cut), Harrison Smith (restructure), Brian O'Neill (restructure) and T.J. Hockenson (extension) could leave the Vikings about $20 million under the cap — space to make a few initial moves in free agency without dealing with Cousins.

That doesn't mean they wouldn't ultimately extend him. It would mean they would have options from the leverage they created: Find a medium-term deal that works for both sides. Let the year play out and move on with a younger, cheaper QB in 2024. Or perhaps even try to facilitate a trade this year and start over now.

How hard they work in the next few days to create space should tell us a lot about how much the Vikings value the sort of leverage they've never had with Cousins.