One of the most interesting subplots of wild card weekend is the monetary value that Kirk Cousins is going to extract from Washington this offseason. He’s defiantly led the Redskins in to the playoffs amidst a crumbling division, and made his team look like a legitimate threat to send the Green Bay Packers home early. So how much money do you think he’ll get for his efforts, win or lose?
The answer: $100 million. Give or take. And I’m not even kidding.
Andy Dalton signed a similar contract worth $96 million over 6 years just last season. Dalton will earn an average salary of $16 million, and has already banked a $12 million signing bonus along with $17 million guaranteed. Whether people believe in him or not, Cincinnati dedicated themselves to his skillset for the long term.
Cincinnati also crafted the contract with their own flexibility in mind. They can essentially dump him after next year without taking a massive hit in what’s called “dead cap space”. This the portion of their salary cap that equates to a sunk cost; one that the team can’t avoid even if the player isn’t on their roster anymore.
