Heading into his first experience as a free agent, Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins was deemed as being the most-sought out available player at his position. However, this list of potential suitors had narrowed down over the last several weeks with the Minnesota Vikings emerging as the presumed frontrunner.
Things had begun to progressively pick up on that front with the Vikings remaining at the top of the list as the most likely landing spot for the 29-year-old. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Cousins has made that decision to join the mix by reportedly agreeing to sign a three-year, fully-guaranteed contract with the Vikings on Tuesday morning.
Kirk Cousins plans to sign a three-year, fully-guaranteed contract from the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday, sources tell ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 13, 2018
This has come shortly after Case Keenum had agreed to a deal with the Denver Broncos, which opened the door to Cousins taking ahold of the starting job in Minnesota. He will immediately step into a promising situation with one of the league's most talented roster on both sides of the ball that is headed by arguably the best defense in the league.
In the last three seasons as a full-time starting quarterback, Cousins has developed into one of the better quarterbacks in the league. He is coming off his third straight year with at least 4,000 passing yards and 25 touchdown passes. He has the fewest amount of interceptions (43) through his first 50 career games, which is also the lowest for a player that has thrown for 13,000 passing yard during that span. He is also the only player in NFL history to have at least 4,000 passing yards and four or more rushing touchdowns in three consecutive seasons.
He will have a plethora of offensive weapons around him to potentially build on the team's first NFC Championship game appearance in eight years. The Vikings possess a dynamic group of wide receivers led by Pro Bowler Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs along with a strong option at tight end in Kyle Rudolph.
Thielen has emerged as one of the receivers in the league after a breakout 2017 campaign where he posted career highs with 91 catches for 1,276 receiving yards and four touchdowns, which made him the first Vikings receiver to have 1,000 receiving yards since Sidney Rice did so in 2009. Meanwhile, promising second-year running back Dalvin Cook is expected to be back well before the start of the 2018 season, which should give Minnesota an effective running game behind Cousins.
This move also effectively means that the Vikings are moving on from both Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Bradford, who could both have an active market for their services for a few of the quarterback-needy teams in free agency. This signing won't be able to be finalized until the free agency period begins on Wednesday at 4 p.m. EST.
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