The ’backs story
Vikes hoping Cousins will stay; Wilson expected to be set free
INDIANAPOLIS — You would never guess by their teams’ plans that Kirk Cousins is nearing free agency and Russell Wilson is under contract.
In fact, it sounded like the reverse was true Tuesday when Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah mentioned winning a Super Bowl with Cousins shortly after Broncos head coach Sean Payton vowed to soon have a resolution to an unhappy marriage with Wilson.
Cousins’ contract will void March 13, which makes him ineligible for a franchise tag. If he does not re-sign before then, he could be the NFL’s most-sought-after free agent and continue a multiyear trend started by Tom Brady of starting quarterbacks changing teams late in their careers.
“We have our interests, he has his, get to the table and see if we can figure out a creative solution of how to meet in the middle,” Adofo-Mensah said. “What we do know is we have a really good quarterback, great leader and somebody we think we can win the ultimate prize with.”
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell told KFAN radio in Minnesota that through many offseason conversations it has been communicated that “Kirk wants to be a Viking [and] he knows we want him to be a Viking.” A resolution at quarterback could be one of the holdups to getting an extension worked out with All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson, who the Vikings will not be trading.
“That is not something that has once crossed my mind,” Mensah-Adofo said. “You got a blue[-chip] player, a blue[-chip] person. You try to keep as many of those as you can.”
Teams that wanted to target Cousins in free agency might soon be able to pivot to Wilson, especially given the lack of trade interest.
“I haven’t heard anything from any teams,” Broncos general manager George Paton said. “So, we’ll see.”
The Broncos traded three players and four draft picks, including two first-rounders, to the Seahawks for Wilson and quickly signed him to a five-year, $242 million extension. Two disappointing seasons later, it looks like Wilson will be released after the relationship soured to the point where Wilson claimed the Broncos threatened to bench him last season if he didn’t void his injury-guaranteed salary.
Paton said everything was done “above board,” but that doesn’t change facts: Wilson’s $37 million salary for the 2025 season becomes fully guaranteed in a few weeks, so he is likely to be released before March 17 as the Broncos look elsewhere.
“There are a couple factors here,” Payton said. “The cap projections came out, we are further down the road with [scouting] the draft class and the pro free agents, so I would anticipate [a resolution] within the next two weeks.”
The Broncos have had 13 starting quarterbacks since the end of the Peyton Manning era in 2016. Payton said the Broncos “better” embrace the challenge of finding the next franchise quarterback, especially in the loaded AFC West.
“I saw a humorous meme the other day,” he said. “It was a Bronco fan with a shirt on and eight quarterbacks’ names with a cross through it and he is drinking the quarterback Kool-Aid. Our job is to make sure this next one doesn’t have a line through it.”