With the final chapter of the 2023 football season to be written a week from now the entire League will be at the same place as the Purple. Whether that head-start will yield anything better than the previous two offseasons remains to be seen.
But paramount to the 2024 reformation of the roster is the decision about the future of Kirk Cousins. Not to be too much like Dr. Strange but there's maybe one scenario in which the long-time quarterback takes a one-year deal, as logical as that may be since he's coming back from a major injury.
So the conversation has mostly centered around him getting two or three years. At 36 by the start of the season, taking that length of a contract would open up the possibility for him follow in the footsteps of Tom Brady and play into his 40s, getting one more bite of the apple with the bonus that quarterback value is likely to continuing inflating.
If the Purple were to go that direction it would also probably come with another young quarterback being added as the understudy, maybe even with the 11th pick.
Personally I don't want to waste two or three years of the rookie salary hack as a backup but we still don't know whether the GM of a similar mind. This post isn't about the draft, whether the team should go after the fourth-best quarterback, should trade up or down or anything like that. It's to float a different option for the team which hasn't received enough mention to date.
Give Cousins a four or five year deal
I won't pretend to know all the intricacies of contract structures but given his history, if the team truly wants him to be the quarterback of the present and future then perhaps going longer with a deal would allow for a lower number than many of the most recent deals.
A lower number could be just maintaining the $35,000,000 of the current deal.
Over a four-year span that would be right in line with the amount of guaranteed dollars going the way of 26 year old Justin Herbert.
It wouldn't be the most preferred outcome but if the mindset is to continue trying to compete as soon as next Fall then the idea deserves to be on the board.
If another team wants to come through with $45,000,000+ then God bless them and thanks for the years as the second best quarterback in the franchises history. Considering the previous moves that he's made to try and sort-out the salary cap mess, Kwesi seems willing to draw that sort of line in the sand. It might hurt in the short-term but adding a top-five defender for Flores and signing a bridge QB or trading down, getting more assets and the fourth-best rookie signal-caller wouldn't be the worst consolation prizes possible - so long as the selections pan-out either of those ways.
It's a conundrum and will continue to be for more weeks but don't get locked-in on just what the TV, radio & digital people decide to talk about the most. There are more possible paths to the team finally making the last game of the year again than those that the media get to on the regular, let's not forget that.