Vikings QB Cousins is paid well, so team can expect a big payoff

Getting the groundbreaking contract was relatively easy, given the way that Kirk Cousins had tilted the NFL’s economic landscape in his favor by hitting the unrestricted free-agent market this past offseason following two franchise tags by the Washington Redskins. Now, as Cousins’ first season with the Minnesota Vikings nears, comes the tougher task: living up to that contract.

The Vikings did not explicitly attach a Super Bowl-or-bust label to their season when they signed Cousins in March to a fully guaranteed three-year, $84 million contract. But they may as well have done so. They ousted a quarterback, in Case Keenum, now with the Broncos, who played at close to an MVP level for them last season, taking them to the NFC title game. So clearly they believe that adding Cousins amounts to putting the final piece of a Super Bowl puzzle in place. Much is being paid, and much is expected in return.

“He got exactly what he was hoping for,” former Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann said. “The pressure that comes with a contract like that is tremendous. But he spent two years in Washington betting on himself. He knows what that’s like. He’s going to put, what, $120-some million in the bank over the course of five years? He’s going to be OK. So it’s not economic. It’s whether you deliver.”

Will it work? There are plenty of reasons to believe that it will. Cousins, coming off three straight 4,000-yard passing seasons with the Redskins, is surrounded