I would move on to plan B if he would only take a 3 year contract, especially considering the 44% rule goes with the player. Worst thing that can happen to the Jets is getting strung along by Cousins only for him to sign with another team while we also miss out on potential other targets. I would make a very competitive take it or leave it offer to him.
Isnt that just speculation? I don't believe he has said that. His value is at its highest right now, and could probably get himself an 8 year $240M deal right now. Obviously, it would be structured like all NFL contracts where the team could move on after year 3.
Understand the concern, but I'm not worried about that. If they draft the right guy (a big if, I'll admit), I'm confident his talent will emerge despite the CS. Considering the "greats" and "almost greats" that have emerged in the last 25 years or so, nobody fretted about who the coaches were. If the talent is there, it will be evident.
No. One, he’s betting on himself again that he will excel and get an even bigger payday. That’s a huge risk because even if he is a stat monster again, if his team doesn’t win people will stop pointing the finger of failure at the organizational level and it will stick to him. That’s the attitude and confidence I want in a QB. Two, less years, less money. If he only wants a three year deal he likely ain’t getting it all guaranteed. That would give the Jets the ability to frontload it this year with our cap and minimize the annual salary in years 2 and 3.
I think that's right - I don't recall hearing him say anything at all, and anyone who takes seriously all of the rumors is crazy. If it is true that is a big negative from my point of view. People can criticize all they want that NFL contracts aren't fair to the player because they're not guaranteed for the life of the contract, but that's the way it is, and it's not up to the Jets to make things fair for Kirk Cousins. Even the most optimistic person has to think the Jets aren't getting to the Super Bowl in the next year or two, which means that the best case scenario would be that just as the team is there Cousins has the right to leave. Then what? They franchise him 2 or 3 times, creating ill will and ending up in the same cap hell that the Redskins found themselves in? Free agent contracts have three key components: a signing bonus, which is better for the player (lots of money up front), a long time length, which can be better for either side (marginal players stay on the team because of dead cap money, teams get to spread the cap hit out over more time), and a way out for teams after 3 years or so, which is better for the team (obviously). In my view there's only one reason the Jets should consider giving Cousins the guarantee and getting nothing in return in the form of a longer official contract length, and that's if he's willing to take considerably less money - like $75-$80 million guaranteed versus $90-$100 million.
They could tag him. But if he's already getting 30 million a year by tagging him its gonna be expensive.
Yeah, I am not sure I buy the "Cousins wants a 3-year deal" talk. He has wanted a long term deal for the past couple years and the Redskins refused to give him the deal he wanted. Going year to year is risky. You would think he will want a 5-8 year deal for security purposes. If he really just wants a 3 year deal, maybe he really is just a douche bag and the Redskins were more right than I thought. I can't believe all the talk and speculation these days though because each thing contradicts the last thing. People are just making things up or speculating, then considering it news. Clearly you don't want to guarantee a 5-7 year contract, so there could be language that makes it a true 3-year deal to protect the franchise signing him, not Cousins. He could want 3 years guaranteed. That is different from a 3-year deal.
Denver. Wouldn't you like to play for a HOF QB, and in the mile high city where you can throw the ball even further?
Actually, if it's true that he wants only a 3-year deal, it could make me less inclined to oppose the Jets signing him. Unless that 3-year deal just has stupid money, a crazy amount guaranteed, or was heavily backloaded, it would protect the Jets in case he sustains a serious injury in year 2 or 3 or if his play falls off a cliff ala Revis. Of course, on the flip side, it would probably indicate that Cousins had lied, that he didn't care about winning, and only cared about the money. That would make me want him even less. The bottom line is that I just think it is the wrong move for a rebuilding team to sign a 30 year-old QB, especially when there are a lot of good QB prospects in the draft. The Jets could even double dip taking one of Mayfield, Darnold and Rosen at #6 and then take a Falk or Mike White in round 3/4 if they really wanted to hedge their bets. Also, with the money that they pay Cousins, they could potentially sign Andrew Norwell, Allen Robinson, either Weston Richburg or Ryan Jensen, Malcom Butler, and one of LaAdrian Waddle, Cornelius Lucas, Seantrel Henderson, or Michael Schofield. That, along with drafting one of the top 3 QBs in the draft would improve their team a lot more than signing Cousins and drafting Quenton Nelson.
a 5-8 year deal provides no additional security over a 3 year deal and gives all of the leverage to the team ... i dont know that i would sign him if he only wants a 3 year deal tho if he does end up signing a shorter deal, cousins will overtake revis as the most shrewd contract negotiator in nfl history
I was talking to my friend about that yesterday. He has surpassed Revis. Revis at least had 4 First Team All-Pros, and was clearly the best at his position. Cousins is above average but: 0 accomplishments, and has made over $43 million the last 2 years with the Skins and will make huge money next week. Genius!
There's not much more security on the back-end, because teams will typically give themselves outs in the last year or two. He may be thinking: 1) I want to sign my next/last deal at age 33 rather than 35, or 2) The way QB salaries keep jumping, "highest" paid QBs become comparatively underpaid within a couple of years.
This would be perfect for a forward thinking team in the Jets position. Sign him to a three year deal, draft the best QB available at 6 and let him sit behind cousins for the first couple years.
While I wouldn't reach for a QB, if your QB is only locked up for 3 years & a top prospect falls to you, then by all means take him.
That means you would be paying your #6 QB about 5M+ per year to sit on the bench for two years minimum and possibly three. For arguments sake let's assume 2 years, at which point you decide to sit, trade or cut Cousins and see if your young QB is any good. At this point you only have 1 year to evaluate him because at the end of the third year, you have to decide whether you're going to offer him a new contract or let him become a FA. If it's three years, then you have no way knowing what to do. That doesn't sound to me like a judicious use of money or personnel.
1st round picks are 4 year deals with team option for a 5th that pays well but not crazy. if he sat for 2 years, we'd still have 3 years left on his rookie deal to decide whether to pay him or not we also don't need to take one at 6, we can trade back for more picks to stock up and still get a mid 1st round QB (jackson) we could also opt to just not take a QB
