Vikings owner says his 'real focus' is not Kirk Cousins contract
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is in the final year of his contract.
And while the team would presumably like to sign him to an extension at some point, owner Mark Wilf said Cousins’ employment status is not at the forefront of his mind right now.
"We'll leave that to (general manager) Kwesi (Adofo-Mensah) and coach (Kevin O’Connell) to work through those discussions," Wilf told ESPN. "There's always conversations on that. But our real focus is 100% on 2023 and getting where we need to be, and where I know we can be."
Cousins is playing on a one-year, $35 million contract he agreed to last offseason. He converted $20M of that deal into a signing bonus in March and added two void years to his deal to give the Vikings an additional $16M in cap space.
It was the second extension and third contract overall Cousins signed after his initial three-year, $84M contract with Minnesota in 2018 which made him the highest-paid player and was the only fully guaranteed deal in NFL history at the time.
Cousins told reporters at the end of Minnesota’s minicamp that there have been no talks about a new contract for him and hinted that both sides mutually agreed to table negotiations until next season.
"I think we'll probably talk about the contract next March," Cousins said. "Until then, [we'll] just focus on this season and the job to do right now."
Three of Cousins’ four Pro Bowls have come with the Vikings. He’s passed for 4,200 yards or more and in four of his five seasons with the team and he’s had 30 or more touchdowns and a passer rating of 103 or higher in three of those seasons.
Cousins is the 14th highest-paid QB in the NFL, and his projected market value is $43.2M per season, according to Spotrac.
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