There have been a number of reports in recent weeks indicating that the New York Jets are willing to pay any price and do anything it takes to sign Kirk Cousins, but one writer who covers the team says all that talk has been greatly exaggerated.
According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, the Jets “absolutely would love to sign Cousins” and feel he is a rare find in that he can help a team win games now and for years to come. However, sources told Mehta that members of the Jets’ front office have actually laughed about reports like the one that claimed they will do “whatever it takes” to land Cousins.
Earlier in the week, Brian Costello of the New York Post reported that the Jets are entertaining the idea of paying Cousins $60 million guaranteed in the first year of a front-loaded contract. The idea behind that would be to have more cap space beyond 2018 to build around Cousins, but Mehta describes the concept as “beyond ludicrous.” There was also a report from Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that the Jets could be willing to guarantee Cousins’ entire contract, and that also sounds incredibly farfetched.
Will the Jets be willing to offer Cousins as much as any other team? Absolutely, but the market for franchise quarterbacks has very much been set. Jimmy Garoppolo recently signed a five-year, $137.5 million extension with the San Francisco 49ers. Matthew Stafford got a five-year, $135 million contract from the Detroit Lions last offseason. Both players are set to make around $87 million in the first three years of the deal. It’s no coincidence that their contracts are so similar, and any deal Cousins signs will almost certainly be in line with those.
As Mehta notes, the Jets will have around $90 million in cap space if they cut Mo Wilkerson and Matt Forte. That puts them in a great position to land Cousins, but other teams that are closer to winning a Super Bowl are also expected to make big plays for him. A bidding war probably won’t be the deciding factor in the 29-year-old’s decision.
