Vikings open vault for Cousins
At his introductory news conference Thursday in Minnesota, Kirk Cousins said he has “always felt a little bit underrated, a little bit overlooked.” Those days are gone. The Minnesota Vikings’ new starting quarterback is the owner of a fully guaranteed, three-year, $84-million contract (with a reported $6 million in incentives also on the table).
It’s not a bad chunk of change for a guy who has yet to win an NFL playoff game. Like University of Michigan alumnus Tom Brady, Cousins has been proving doubters wrong his whole career, especially since beating out Nick Foles and others as a redshirt freshman to succeed Brian Hoyer in 2008 as Michigan State’s starting quarterback. Cousins wound up winning more games than any other QB in Spartans history and was the only one to beat archrival Michigan four times. But like Brady, Cousins was undervalued as a draft prospect in 2012. He wasn’t even the first quarterback the Washington Redskins selected that year as Robert Griffin III was picked No. 2 overall. RG3 shone for a year, then flamed out. Cousins kept biding his time as the backup. Six other quarterbacks (Andrew Luck, Ryan Tannehill, Brandon Weeden, Brock Osweiler, Russell Wilson and Foles) were drafted in 2012 before the Redskins nabbed Cousins 102nd overall. Not until 2015 did Redskins head coach Jay Gruden name Cousins the entrenched starter. Unsure after that season if he was the guy, the Redskins franchise-tagged him in 2016. They did so again for the same reason last year.
The Redskins’ decision to trade for Kansas City’s Alex Smith before the Super Bowl was the final snub.
His long-term goal, Cousins said, is that this gargantuan contract is just his first with the Vikings: “This is a lifetime deal. That’s the goal, that I’ll be here a long, long time.”
SAINTS OWNER DIES
Tom Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints since 1985, has died at age 90. He had been in hospital for a month with pneumonia.
COMINGS & GOINGS
WR Jordy Nelson signed a two-year, $15-million deal with the Oakland Raiders. To make cap room, the Raiders dumped WR Michael Crabtree ... The Raiders also signed ex-Tampa Bay RB Doug Martin … RB Rex Burkhead re-signed with New England … DL Dontari Poe left Atlanta for Carolina … TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins left the New York Jets for Jacksonville … Backup RT Austin Pasztor of Tillsonburg, Ont., re-signed with Atlanta, as did CB Leon McFadden … Cleveland traded DB Jason McCourty to New England, where he’ll play with twin brother Devin.