Cousins inked a four-year deal worth $180 million with Atlanta in the spring of 2024. However, after a $10 million roster bonus the Falcons paid him in March, the QB’s base salary for the season is $27.5 million.
The Vikings won’t pay that much for Cousins at this age and coming off last season’s performance, particularly as a backup signal-caller. However, if Minnesota is willing to take on somewhere in the ballpark of $10 million of his salary, it could be enough to get a deal done.
That remains a boatload to pay for a backup QB, but McCarthy has never taken a regular-season snap, Minnesota has no viable QB2 at the moment, Cousins knows the offense and has been successful in it, and the Vikings’ options are relatively limited otherwise.
Not to mention, Minnesota could prove a legitimate Super Bowl contender if it can get average to above-average play from the position in 2025.
