If Denver is in win now mode I think they will be looking for a more impactful player with the first pic. I also don't see them going after cousins if they need to release good players to fit cousins and have no extra cap room to replace those said good players. If Foles becomes available I see them going for it depending on the draft pics needed.
I agree with the notion that the Broncos might be priced out of the Cousins race. They'd probably have to make some cuts and let a few of their in-house guys walk to fit the contract Cousins is going to get now because of the Niners.
To play Devils Advocate since I don't want him here.. There are two strong candidates for Cousins who meet his desire to "win now": Minnesota and Jacksonville.Both have the cap space to pay the man plus.. the Vikings came close to a SB this year plus Keenum not under prohibitive contract... Same for Jax who lost to the the Pats and where they can end Bortles Contract before the 2018 Season starts And the Jets??? Lol DO YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT WINNING 5 GAMES WILL IMPRESS KC ?? Ya gotta be kidding... We are at least a YEAR away from contending for anything...we can't deliver and he may not think HE can either.. IMO we DONT have to worry about competing against ourselves.for Capt Kirk.....not so fast!!
Jacksonville won’t be able to move bortles since it’s unlikely he will pass a physical so they would have to be creative to fit 50 mil of qb payroll under the cap. Minnesota doesn’t have quite the room they would like to fit cousins in. There is a reason Vegas installed ya as favorites to win this sweepstakes.
I think if Case Keenum is willing to take a discount to come back to the Vikings that's the way they will go. The Vikings really do not have great options if they let go of Keenum. I expect them to make a due diligence effort to re-sign him prior to free agency. If he wants full market value they'll go another route. In that scenario Keenum is in play for Arizona and Denver since he will be cheaper than Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins ideal situation is to go to a contender who is willing to pay him a Jimmy Garoppolo sized salary and guarantee at least three seasons of it. In other news the Easter Bunny is also available in free agency this year. The odds on some team signing the rabbit are just as good as the odds that Cousins gets a huge offer from a clear contender. As he approaches free agency it is going to become clear to Cousins and his agents that the big money offers are only available from mediocre to bad teams and organizations. Strong contenders do not give out huge contracts to good players in the expectation that paying them will make them a star. Occasionally a strong organization buys a great free agent at top dollar and then manages to win it all with the contribution that the player makes. Examples of that type of situation include Deion Sanders a couple of times, Reggie White and the Packers, Peyton Manning and the Broncos. Note that in all of these cases the person was a clear Hall of Famer coming in the door and there were Hall of Fame QB's already in place or a great team around them. In each case the arriving star was the last piece of the puzzle to win a championship. For Cousins this reality has him choosing between taking a mid-market contract in the $20M a year range to play with a better team or going for the big money with a small handful of teams that will be in the market. By trading for Alex Smith the Redskins took themselves out of the market for Cousins, further limiting his bonanza options. The teams that might accede to his demands for a huge deal with a lot of guarantees are: The Browns - lots of cap space and they could then use or sell either of their early picks to great advantage. The new GM John Dorsey is probably going to go a cheaper more conventional route but he might face pressure from ownership to right the team in one year after the 1-31 debacle the last two. None of the available QB's in free agency or the draft is more likely to help the Browns win 8 games next year than Cousins. The Jets - lots of cap space, a long playoff drought, a history of trying to win with limited window moves, promoting Jeremy Bates to everything offense, etc. This is a make or break year for Mike Maccagnan after three seasons of iffy drafts and journeymen QB's filling gaps. He's in the classic situation where a hole that gets plugged is quickly followed by another hole that springs open somewhere else. He came into a situation with a fairly solid veteran offensive line and a great defensive front. He imported edge talent on offense and defense and for a year things looked ok. Then the OL, the edge players and the DL all declined over the next two seasons and he's effectively starting from scratch again. Filling the QB gap with a proven player so that he can look elsewhere in the draft may prove just too enticing to pass up. Cousins is the only free agent QB available that you can pencil in as a decent starter for sure next year. The Broncos - Elway has had difficulty finding a QB through the draft and he has spent much more capitol on this than the Jets. He's also staring at a roster that is going to need a total overhaul in the near future. Too many key contributors are post-prime at this point. Does he make a strong effort to contend over the next year or two or does he start the rebuild process right now with a QB on the 5? A lot of prognosticators have Case Keenum going to Denver in the end after Cousins winds up somewhere else with a huge deal. I don't think this is all that likely because if Keenum is willing to take a reasonable deal for a QB of his talents he will stay in Minnesota where he has had success. If he pushes his price upwards I think very few teams will be interested and Denver definitely not in that limited market. The Fins - Mike Tannenbaum does some patented reshuffling of numbers to barely squeeze Cousins and the teams draftees in, cutting Ryan Tannehill and Cameron Wake and letting Jarvis Landry leave in the process. The Fins don't seem like a logical place for a huge contract to emerge but Tannenbaum likes to make the big splashy signing and he is a whiz at creating this year cap space at the expense of creating a sclerotic cap situation down the road. There is still angst in Miami over passing on Drew Brees in 2006. If the Fins decide to go get the QB this time they definitely have the right guy maneuvering the toggles behind the scenes. I think that's the top dollar market for Cousins at this point. If he wants to be the highest paid player in the NFL he has to go to a team that is a total unknown in terms of their ability to win with him at QB. If quality of team is important to Cousins then he has one serious option: the Vikings are the best team that is looking for a QB this year. If Case Keenum hits the open market looking for a big mid-range QB contract the Vikings would likely be more than willing to give that number to Cousins instead. We're talking $20-22M with maybe $40M guaranteed in that scenario. If I was Cousins that's what I'd do but we have no idea what his approach to free agency is going to be like.
I hope we don't go overboard to sign Cousins. If we do that the odds on the move failing are pretty high. Cousins is a lot like the draft option in that if the Jets can get him at a reasonable price he probably helps us but if we go all-in we're probably screwed. Mammoth contract for Cousins and mammoth trade-up for a QB are both losing options for a team that has lots of holes to fill and a bad track record of making huge contracts or trade-ups work.
Not sure sure that's going to be mutually accepted by either the Jets or by Cousins because Cousins is going to demand a HUGE contract with guaranteed clauses. He's in the driver's seat because of other teams coveting him. If the Jets boot him after 3 years , they'll be paying dearly for it.
I wouldn't be surprised if the first 3 years of the deal is fully guaranteed. Perhaps 50M-60M guaranteed. Mac gives the Jets an out after 3 years. That's a huge W
News is Buffalo is on the move..TRADING 2 SPOT WITH GIANTS Sure let's sit and talk for 49 pages lol about Capt Kirk while Buffalo torpedos plans to draft a top 3 QB Mac CANT ALLOW THIS
Jets get Cousins ... Chubb or Nelson ... the addition of Chubb makes Leonard Williams better and together they could wreck lines. I think you have to take the pass rusher over even a Barkley type player. He's the cream of the crop in this draft.
I would be pretty pissed if the Giants trade the No. 2 overall pick to the Bills. A big kick in the nuts for sure.
Oh man, the angst caused by signing cousins and drafting another defensive lineman in the first? I’ll take 2 helpings of that. We’d have to have a panick room for all the emotional distress some posters here would suffer. This is now my dream scenario
The Bills would have to give up a king's ransom to move from 21 to 2. That is a franchise compromising move. I just can't see it. This is why it's risky to stand pat at #6 needing a QB. Darnold/Rosen/Mayfield/Allen could all be off the board due to trades before the Jets even pick. If I'm the Jets I'm reaching out to Indy & Cleveland.
Addition by subtraction. What am I missing Cousins +Chubbs-Mo-McCown= Instant massive upgrade on both sides of the ball for around $15M net or less per year.
Funny, this morning on ESPN they went through all the teams that need a QB and they talked about the Bills not being able to move up our be in play for Cousins. You do get that you can't believe a single thing reported about team plans at this point in time, right?
Great explanation of the reality facing Cousins. I think if he's looking for long term security with big numbers your right it's going to be NY or Cleveland. I don't know about Miami with Tannehill there....I could see them just draft a QB to learn behind Tannehill....but who knows with them.
I am on the phone and can’t post the whole article but this is what is being discussed on Pro Football Talk. I say no way this happens but you never know. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/02/17/will-kirk-cousins-get-a-fully-guaranteed-contract/
I'm with you - no way. This would be the absolute worst thing the Jets could do, making it far harder to fill in all of the other holes in the team for years to come. The exact opposite is much more likely - a heavily front-loaded contract with an out for the Jets after 3 years. If Cousins is great in the three years they'll extend him with a raise; if he's good but not great they'll either let him play it out or not; and if he stinks they'll cut him. Any other strategy is insane for the Jets. If Cousins insists on a five-year guaranteed contract, they should tell him to stick it unless it's for way below market value.
