The Minnesota Vikings have reportedly provided quarterback Kirk Cousins with multiple offers for a contract extension in hopes of reaching an agreement before the new NFL league year begins Wednesday.
ESPN's Courtney Cronin reported the news Saturday but noted a deal is "not likely to happen" yet with the sides unable to reach a compromise.
Cousins, who has one season left on his contract, is planning to see how the star-studded quarterback market plays out in the offseason before signing a new deal, per Cronin.
The 31-year-old Michigan State product is scheduled to count $31 million against the salary cap in 2020. The Vikings could sign Cousins to an extension that would provide him more long-term stability but lower his cap hit next season to give the franchise more financial flexibility in free agency.
Minnesota has $20.1 million in cap space, the seventh-lowest total in the league, according to Spotrac.
Cousins overcame a sluggish start to the 2019 campaign to post the league's fourth-best passer rating (107.4). He completed 69.1 percent of his throws with 26 touchdowns and six interceptions in 15 games.
Vikings general manager Rick Spielman would not divulge where the quarterback's contract stood on the front office's to-do list this offseason.
"We have a lot of things on the priority list," he told reporters. "... I think the second year-which I don't think he's been in, to go into a system for two years in a row-we just see him progressing and improving more. From a business side, I won't talk about anything on contract negotiations or what we're doing, but I do know we were very excited."
Without an extension for Cousins or another blockbuster move-wide receiver Stefon Diggs has been frequently mentioned in trade rumors-Minnesota will be limited in its pursuit of outside roster upgrades in the coming months.
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