We're still more than two weeks away from the spending spree commencing. In a world where students are too often under threat in their schools and people of all ages are suffering through all sort of illness, I hope that my first sentence is the worst thing that you read/hear/think about today. Regrettably, that's not likely though.
Within the "toy department" rumors about the future of the Vikings quarterback worked like a sand storm as they flew through Twitter. No franchise tag for Keenum and no tolling of Bridgewater's contract. The prevailing thought based on those rumors is that the Vikings are going all in to get Kirk Cousins. What does all in mean? No one knows and I do mean no one. Hitching the wagon to one guy that's walled off due to the collusion rules makes for a big time gamble. I'm not so naive as to think that teams don't negotiate with players before they are permitted to. But even with all the negative news coming out of the sports world recently, I'm not going to automatically assume that everyone cheats.
So let's put a pin in the possibility that rules have been broken by the Vikings. With that in mind, they might be intent on making him an offer to be the highest paid player in the NFL. A lot of people bemoan that for a guy that they don't want but Joe Flacco was the highest paid NFL player just two years ago and has been topped four times over since. And he's been pretty much a disaster over that time too. So maybe Cousins will get a deal with the Vikings that he is pleased with and then takes a similarly downturned approach.
But consider another rumor that he may only be looking for a deal for the next couple of years. The logic being that he wants to try to get two more pay days before his career is over. If he stays healthy the same way he has over his past three season so of play then he may be able to get more than two contracts but a shorter deal should be attractive to whichever team signs him.
Back to the main point - say the Vikings are going all in to get him. In the high stakes game of poker that the NFL is, they need to have the best hand. Cousins will most likely be the first signal caller to sign but maybe not. Maybe Case, Teddy & Sam will all have new zip codes attached to their employment. No sweating a Bradford departure but being left to scramble for a solution in a market devoid of Keenum and Bridgewater as second fiddles is a toy department nightmare.
If the rumors are accurate and they just let those guys walk, they need to sign Cousins and he will have all the leverage. But I also don't want them to overpay him. I could stomach 30 million dollars of the cap space going his way but not more and preferably less. Rock, meet hard place.
The waiting and debating is such a drag. Instead of being able to enjoy a great season and the probability of a few more to come, the elephant that is the quarterback position is not only filling up everything, it's busting out of the prescribed space.
There are no answers. What's worse is that we're not even close to any coming either. When they come though, whoever joins Sloter as a quarterback in the employ of the Vikings, it needs to be a grand slam. The ops need to win the bet that they're setting up. Because if they don't the Super Bowl window will slam down on them much harder then this year's NFC Championship game. Yeah, it's an ugly thought but would be a worse reality.
So the 14 game winner may be gone
And the former first round pick who nearly lost his leg may be gone
It'll be gravy if they're replaced by a top ten caliber guy but the next two weeks are going to go VERY slowly! I guess that means I'll just have to vent out frustrations and annoyances as the rumors continue to swirl while nothing actually happens. March 14 can't come soon enough!