What will Cousins fetch on the open market

[TonyFtLaud]

There's no salary cap on Hollywood...

Honestly, I don't care how much anyone gets paid. I care what percentage of the cap they take.

Garoppolo is reportedly a little more than 20% of the 9ers cap next year. Now its heavily front-loaded, because that's the situation they're in, nobody can sustain tgat and build a team. 15% is what his deal averages (against projected 2018 cap) and that's a highwater mark to me. In my eyes, to eat up 15% or more of your teams cap, you've got to be the reason they're winning games. It's not too hard to argue that in 2017, he was. We'll see going forward - that puts you squarely in Top Ten category I think.

If you're a role player/game manager, a 'with a running game and a great D we can win with this guy' I think you can't eat that much cap. I think Cousins is somewhere in between a Top Ten guy and a role player - closer to a Top Ten, but I don't think he'll ever get there. If a team pays cousin's close to 20% of their cap, I think they're in trouble.

Unfortunately, the QB market is what it is. That's not going to change for the better. QB salaries will continue to rise. Fortunatly, the cap also continues to rise each year, 15-20% of this years cap will be less in each year to follow.
Time will tell what Garoppalo is. He had a great run of 5 games but has not proven anything yet. Cousin's is a top 10 QB and will be paid slightly more than Garappalo. I think the Eagles proved you can win in today's NFL with a good , not great QB.
That being said, next year's QBs will be paid more than cousins and it will continue. That's what makes draft picks so essential. You have to draft well to get production from your young players in their first contract. Drafting players to develop is a killer. If they miss you wasted a pick, if they hit, you wasted the value years and will be due big pay days after only giving a short time at good value.

 

[isired]

Unfortunately, the QB market is what it is. That's not going to change for the better. QB salaries will continue to rise. Fortunatly, the cap also continues to rise each year, 15-20% of this years cap will be less in each year to follow.
Time will tell what Garoppalo is. He had a great run of 5 games but has not proven anything yet. Cousin's is a top 10 QB and will be paid slightly more than Garappalo. I think the Eagles proved you can win in today's NFL with a good , not great QB.
That being said, next year's QBs will be paid more than cousins and it will continue. That's what makes draft picks so essential. You have to draft well to get production from your young players in their first contract. Drafting players to develop is a killer. If they miss you wasted a pick, if they hit, you wasted the value years and will be due big pay days after only giving a short time at good value.

Disagree on those two points.

First, Garoppolo has proven what he needed to prove to the only people he needed to prove it to. And I bet the 9ers are more comfortable with Garoppolo after having him with the team for 8 weeks and starting/winning 5 games than they would have been signing Cousins on film.

As far as Cousins, are you saying he was a top 10 QB in 2017? By QBR he was 15. I prefer the "who qould I rather have" test - for one year, or my QB going forward. Either way, I feel like I can name more than 10 QBs I'd rather have. For me, he's probably right about where his 2017 QBR says he is, in the middle.
For me the guys I'd take for the next 2-3 years are:
Brady
Brees
Manning
Newton
Roethlisberger
Rivers
Ryan
Smith
Stafford
Watson
Wentz
Wilson

There are likely 5 guys there that are done in 3-5 years, but I'm pretty confidant that between Prescott, Carr, Garoppolo, the 2017 rookies and first time starters (Mahomes, Kizer, Hundley, etc.) plus this and next years draft picks, we put 5 more ahead of Cousins unless he improves.

There's less than 10 of these guys you'd take over Cousins?

Brady
Brees
Carr
Dalton
Garoppolo
Goff
Flacco
Keenum
Manning
Mariotta
Newton
Prescott
Rivers
Roethlisberger
Ryan
Smith
Stafford
Watson
Wentz
Wilson
Winston

 

[TonyFtLaud]

Disagree on those two points.

First, Garoppolo has proven what he needed to prove to the only people he needed to prove it to. And I bet the 9ers are more comfortable with Garoppolo after having him with the team for 8 weeks and starting/winning 5 games than they would have been signing Cousins on film.

As far as Cousins, are you saying he was a top 10 QB in 2017? By QBR he was 15. I prefer the "who qould I rather have" test - for one year, or my QB going forward. Either way, I feel like I can name more than 10 QBs I'd rather have. For me, he's probably right about where his 2017 QBR says he is, in the middle.
For me the guys I'd take for the next 2-3 years are:
Brady
Brees
Manning
Newton
Roethlisberger
Rivers
Ryan
Smith
Stafford
Watson
Wentz
Wilson

There are likely 5 guys there that are done in 3-5 years, but I'm pretty confidant that between Prescott, Carr, Garoppolo, the 2017 rookies and first time starters (Mahomes, Kizer, Hundley, etc.) plus this and next years draft picks, we put 5 more ahead of Cousins unless he improves.

There's less than 10 of these guys you'd take over Cousins?

Brady
Brees
Carr
Dalton
Garoppolo
Goff
Flacco
Keenum
Manning
Mariotta
Newton
Prescott
Rivers
Roethlisberger
Ryan
Smith
Stafford
Watson
Wentz
Wilson
Winston

I'm sure the 49s are beyond happy to have Garappalo . They would not have signed him to the richest contract in NFL history if they weren't.
It's a big risk that will have been worth taking if he can continue to have success, if he doesn't maintain that level of play , it will be a failure. Only time will tell.

We don't have to agree on Cousins, in my opinion, he was on a bad team, lacked talent around him, no run game and terrible O line and Performed well.
Of your QBs listed , who has had success for 3 or more years , is not on the verge of retirement , has shown they can play at a high level with out talent around them?
Once you have narrowed it down, tell me which ones are available.

 

[isired]

I'm sure the 49s are beyond happy to have Garappalo . They would not have signed him to the richest contract in NFL history if they weren't.
It's a big risk that will have been worth taking if he can continue to have success, if he doesn't maintain that level of play , it will be a failure. Only time will tell.

We don't have to agree on Cousins, in my opinion, he was on a bad team, lacked talent around him, no run game and terrible O line and Performed well.
Of your QBs listed , who has had success for 3 or more years , is not on the verge of retirement , has shown they can play at a high level with out talent around them?
Once you have narrowed it down, tell me which ones are available.

I dont know why I'd eliminate guys that I know are going to be successful because they haven't been in the league 3+ years. Is that a new rule I havent heard of?

I'd take Wentz or Watson over Cousins without hesitation.

And Cousins had more talent around him, IMO, than Garoppolo. But it's funny how the 9ers receivers and OL looked a whole lot better with Garappolo getting the ball out quick and making good throws. I think Cousins will be a very solid choice for the right team - if he gets to Arizona, say, I think it would work. But a team that's in a heavy rebuild just can't afford to drop that big a percentage of their cap on a QB unless it's a guy that can put the team on his back, and I don't think that's Cousins.

 

[SackExchange]

Not sure if this is legit, or if this is a smoke screen.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ll-pay-whatever-it-takes-to-get-kirk-cousins/

 

[mydogisajetsfan]

I think Mac is in a unique position. He/we have several good young players, high draft picks AND $100mm in cap space to get even better and younger. As I said in another post, Elway doesn't have that luxury.

Denver has five players eating up $68mm of cap space and three of them are at least 30 years old and the other two are 28. Elway doesn't have a lot of cap room to tie up given their relative lack of young talent without gutting the team. On the other hand, Mac is likely going to cut four or five of his top eight earners to add to his $70mm cap space (AFTER paying Cousins) to add a lot of additional YOUNG talent.

The Cardinals have over $80mm committed to their top six players. Unless Cousins is willing to take $8-10mm less per year, there's not much wiggle room there. Conversely, the Jets top six players will earn about $40mm. That's a lot of money to spend on getting better. On his hit list likely will be...

Andrew Norwell, G (26 years old)
Nigel Bradham, OLB (29 years old)
EJ Gaines, CB (26 years old)
Trumaine Johnson, CB (28 years old)
Kyle Fuller, CB (26 years old)
DaQuan Jones, DT (26 years old)
Trent Murphy, LB (27 years old)
Ezekiel Ansah, DL/OLB (28 years old)
Paul Richardson, WR (25 years old)
Ryan Jensen, C (26 years old)

There's a lot of talent to be added in free agency.

Add to that high draft picks, and the Jets could be better than Denver in a year or two. That, of course, is contingent upon Mac having another stellar draft this year which I'm hopeful of. The area that needs most improvement is the O-line and while free agency doesn't have a bumper crop, the draft does. With the four QB's, Bradley Chubb, Sequon Barkley, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Quinton Nelson as the top eight, one of them falls to us. If it's one (or two) of the QB's, a trade is entirely possible. If not, I would LOVE Chubb, Barkley, Fitzpatrick or Nelson on this team. They are all studs. A very good center is likely in rounds two or three. That drastically improves the O-line. A very good running back will also be taken in rounds two or three. The defense is two players away from being very, very good.

Also, as other posted have noted, Cousins will be the highest paid player in 2018. In years 2-3 of his contract he will be top 10. After that, he will be top 15 (maybe).

After last year's purge and stellar draft, Mac has set this team up to be successful. He has done a masterful job in setting this team up to have one of the most successful off-seasons in the team's history.

 

[SackExchange]

The biggest hole on the OL, though, center, does have at least one very good young FA hitting the market, Ryan Jensen. I would sign him rather than going the draft route at C.

 

[Namath12]

The biggest hole on the OL, though, center, does have at least one very good young FA hitting the market, Ryan Jensen. I would sign him rather than going the draft route at C.

I'm glad that we have a former offensive lineman to remind us of the importance of the position If we sign Cousins, how do you feel about drafting the guard from Notre Dame at number 6?

 

[mydogisajetsfan]

The biggest hole on the OL, though, center, does have at least one very good young FA hitting the market, Ryan Jensen. I would sign him rather than going the draft route at C.

Totally agreed. However, if we can't sign him there are very good options in the draft.

 

[SackExchange]

I'm glad that we have a former offensive lineman to remind us of the importance of the position If we sign Cousins, how do you feel about drafting the guard from Notre Dame at number 6?

I am always big about investing heavily in the OL. That said, I think to justify drafting a guard at #6, based on market value, the guy has to be a once-in-a-decade talent at that position. Is Nelson? Tough to say. I think he's very good, and will be worth a first rounder. But at #6? I might instead choose to trade down, if a team wants one of the QBs, and try to land him or another top position player later in the first. Besides, I'm not sure guard is the biggest hole on the line. C, then RT, to me.

 

[SackExchange]

Totally agreed. However, if we can't sign him there are very good options in the draft.

You could always go Price from Ohio State with the early second, if he's still there.

 

[LIJETFAN]

On NFL Live today, Polian had some pretty strong opinions about Cousins. His take is: he's a serviceable QB, not a franchise QB. He sees Keenam and Alex Smith as significantly better players. Very interesting take by him. He believes that for Cousins to win, he needs a running game and a great defense to win. He thinks Cousins will get very overpaid.

All the talk on the show is about looking at every team's QB situation. Now Polian is not always right, he's missed a few times. But to my knowledge, he really hasn't missed on QBs. And he is a HOF GM. So we have to take his opinion seriously.

I want to add one other comment: I've been justifiably critical of Baker Mayfield for his off the field antics. To his credit, his interview recently in the Post impressed me. And he did another interview on either NFL Network or ESPN which also impressed me. I still have serious concerns about his maturity and his ability to lead men. I don't really have any issues with his abilities. He's not a prototype QB, which makes me think Mac is not interested. Regardless, I do always want to give credit where credit is due. And Mayfield has carried himself well and represented himself well in those last two public appearances.

So with all of this information - what does the Board think? Cousins or draft a QB?

 

[AFA2017]

After last year's purge and stellar draft, Mac has set this team up to be successful. He has done a masterful job in setting this team up to have one of the most successful off-seasons in the team's history.


I'm still trying to figure out how we had a stellar Draft? If you call that a "Stellar" Draft (2 Safety's and a bunch of ifs). We have a long way to to go.

 

[TebowCan'tThrow]

On NFL Live today, Polian had some pretty strong opinions about Cousins. His take is: he's a serviceable QB, not a franchise QB. He sees Keenam and Alex Smith as significantly better players. Very interesting take by him. He believes that for Cousins to win, he needs a running game and a great defense to win. He thinks Cousins will get very overpaid.

All the talk on the show is about looking at every team's QB situation. Now Polian is not always right, he's missed a few times. But to my knowledge, he really hasn't missed on QBs. And he is a HOF GM. So we have to take his opinion seriously.

I want to add one other comment: I've been justifiably critical of Baker Mayfield for his off the field antics. To his credit, his interview recently in the Post impressed me. And he did another interview on either NFL Network or ESPN which also impressed me. I still have serious concerns about his maturity and his ability to lead men. I don't really have any issues with his abilities. He's not a prototype QB, which makes me think Mac is not interested. Regardless, I do always want to give credit where credit is due. And Mayfield has carried himself well and represented himself well in those last two public appearances.

So with all of this information - what does the Board think? Cousins or draft a QB?

He reminds me of a used car salesmen. He has always carried himself well in interviews. He is going to interview well, but his off the field antics as well as continuing to get into twitter beefs when he should be keeping his mouth shut just proves his lack of awareness and maturity. I will be HUGELY disappointed if we draft him. I guarantee there will be a better player at another position than him available.

As far as Cousins, I have always believed he had to have all the pieces to be successful. His "You like that" rant shows me he might not be able to handle NY. He has great stats, but hasn't won on Monday Night Football which shows me he struggles when the lights are the brightest. With that said, he is still better than all the other QB's in FA and would allow the Jets to build their roster through the draft and they would know they are competitive right away.

 

[Green Jets & Ham]

100+ Million ... if the first team his agent calls is the Jets.

The Jets are the biggest suckers on the planet earth when it comes to veteran retreads.

I'm convinced they have given up on the idea of drafting and grooming their own franchise QB, probably because they have zero confidence that they can.

 

[mydogisajetsfan]

After last year's purge and stellar draft, Mac has set this team up to be successful. He has done a masterful job in setting this team up to have one of the most successful off-seasons in the team's history.


I'm still trying to figure out how we had a stellar Draft? If you call that a "Stellar" Draft (2 Safety's and a bunch of ifs). We have a long way to to go.

Adams will be all-pro, Maye will not be too far behind, Eli Maguire may have been the best selection after round 5 and Dylan Donohue was/is going to be a very solid situational pass rusher. Stewart/Hanson were both disappointments but at least one of them will contribute this year, probably Hanson. And the second round curse was finally broken. I'll take that draft again in a heartbeat.

 

[TonyFtLaud]

Not sure if this is legit, or if this is a smoke screen.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ll-pay-whatever-it-takes-to-get-kirk-cousins/

It's neither, Just Cimini trying to get clicks when there is nothing to report.
Mheta must be taking his meds regularly since the voices in his head( AKA his sources) have been quiet lately.

 

[TonyFtLaud]

I think Mac is in a unique position. He/we have several good young players, high draft picks AND $100mm in cap space to get even better and younger. As I said in another post, Elway doesn't have that luxury.

Denver has five players eating up $68mm of cap space and three of them are at least 30 years old and the other two are 28. Elway doesn't have a lot of cap room to tie up given their relative lack of young talent without gutting the team. On the other hand, Mac is likely going to cut four or five of his top eight earners to add to his $70mm cap space (AFTER paying Cousins) to add a lot of additional YOUNG talent.

The Cardinals have over $80mm committed to their top six players. Unless Cousins is willing to take $8-10mm less per year, there's not much wiggle room there. Conversely, the Jets top six players will earn about $40mm. That's a lot of money to spend on getting better. On his hit list likely will be...

Andrew Norwell, G (26 years old)
Nigel Bradham, OLB (29 years old)
EJ Gaines, CB (26 years old)
Trumaine Johnson, CB (28 years old)
Kyle Fuller, CB (26 years old)
DaQuan Jones, DT (26 years old)
Trent Murphy, LB (27 years old)
Ezekiel Ansah, DL/OLB (28 years old)
Paul Richardson, WR (25 years old)
Ryan Jensen, C (26 years old)

There's a lot of talent to be added in free agency.

Add to that high draft picks, and the Jets could be better than Denver in a year or two. That, of course, is contingent upon Mac having another stellar draft this year which I'm hopeful of. The area that needs most improvement is the O-line and while free agency doesn't have a bumper crop, the draft does. With the four QB's, Bradley Chubb, Sequon Barkley, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Quinton Nelson as the top eight, one of them falls to us. If it's one (or two) of the QB's, a trade is entirely possible. If not, I would LOVE Chubb, Barkley, Fitzpatrick or Nelson on this team. They are all studs. A very good center is likely in rounds two or three. That drastically improves the O-line. A very good running back will also be taken in rounds two or three. The defense is two players away from being very, very good.

Also, as other posted have noted, Cousins will be the highest paid player in 2018. In years 2-3 of his contract he will be top 10. After that, he will be top 15 (maybe).

After last year's purge and stellar draft, Mac has set this team up to be successful. He has done a masterful job in setting this team up to have one of the most successful off-seasons in the team's history.

You nailed it. Denver , who is drafting ahead of us is on the verge of a full rebuild. Cousin's would be in a great position for 1 year, then will be spending the next 2-3 on a rebuilding team.
It is far from the Ideal situation for him.
The question is , Does Denver believe that Cousins is the guy who they can win a Super Bowl with in 2018 or Maybe extending it to 2019. If so they would likely cut him then along with alot of vets in a purge of players to gain cap space and begin the rebuild. Also who will Denver cut to free up cap space to sign him and how do those cuts impact them in the upcoming season.

 

[TonyFtLaud]

Here's a link to an interesting article regarding Cousins.
http://insidethepylon.com/nfl/front...lovsky-kirk-cousins-scheme-and-the-qb-market/

 

[AFA2017]

Adams will be all-pro, Maye will not be too far behind, Eli Maguire may have been the best selection after round 5 and Dylan Donohue was/is going to be a very solid situational pass rusher. Stewart/Hanson were both disappointments but at least one of them will contribute this year, probably Hanson. And the second round curse was finally broken. I'll take that draft again in a heartbeat.

RB Maguire has shown nothing but a 69 yd run. Donahue was on IR and unless you are are a fortune teller this draft stunk. You land 1st and 2nd talent while the good teams are landing 1st, 2nd 3rd and 4th Rd talent. You'll take this draft in a heartbeat! You better wake up if you want the Jets to compete.