Kirk Cousins reportedly looking for high guarantees, low years

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - DECEMBER 31: Kirk Cousins #8 of the Washington Redskins throws a pass during the first half of their game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on December 31, 2017 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Getty Images)
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - DECEMBER 31: Kirk Cousins #8 of the Washington Redskins throws a pass during the first half of their game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on December 31, 2017 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Getty Images) /
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Free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins is taking a wise approach to free agency, looking for a short-term contract with high guaranteed money…

Peter Schrager on NFL Network just dropped some of the most interesting notes in regards to Kirk Cousins we’ve seen to date.

Schrager, reporting from Indianapolis, says that Cousins is looking for a contract with the following three things:

1.  Cousins wants a deal with more average money per year than what Jimmy Garoppolo just received from the San Francisco 49ers, which paid him $27.5 million per year.

We’ve been expecting that Cousins would receive anywhere between $28-30 million per year, so that’s not a surprise. What came next was a little surprising…

2.  Cousins wants a three or four-year deal, not a five- or six-year deal. This is interesting because it would set Cousins up to sign another new deal when he’s either 32 or 33 years old. That is something we’re seeing more of in the NBA, specifically (and to a more extreme degree) with someone like LeBron James, who is playing year-to-year at this point. As the max increases in the NBA, so does LeBron’s annual salary.

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No discounts given.

3. Cousins wants a mostly guaranteed contract. This also makes a lot of sense, and so you have to figure, if Cousins is looking for a three or four year deal, that contract could end up being $90-120 million and it wouldn’t be surprising to see that be 75-85 percent guaranteed.

If Cousins were to get such a deal, a team like the Broncos makes even more sense because Denver’s window looks like it will be over the next three or four yeas with the veterans they have in place. That would allow Cousins to play three years on essentially a ‘max’ contract and then perhaps get franchise tagged the following year.

What he’s doing is setting himself up for great financial success. While many players don’t want to be franchise tagged, Cousins getting tagged twice has set him up to make some of the most guaranteed money for a quarterback in modern NFL history.