Thread: Here's what it would cost the Broncos to sign Kirk Cousins

I'm in the camp that doesn't want Cousins. He (IMO) is just not worth that kind of money and would straddle the organization for years of not being able to sign other players.

Get a mid-level guy, draft someone (or hope Kelly is the real deal) and draft BPA / need.

This, of course, is coming from someone with zero GM experience in the NFL realm.

Originally Posted by BroncoJoe

I'm in the camp that doesn't want Cousins. He (IMO) is just not worth that kind of money and would straddle the organization for years of not being able to sign other players.

Get a mid-level guy, draft someone (or hope Kelly is the real deal) and draft BPA / need.

This, of course, is coming from someone with zero GM experience in the NFL realm.

Agreed. I don't see the likely (vs possible) talent upside of the other QBs in his price range.

I think they would be better off signing the best tackle on the market (haven't looked at who's going to be available) and grabbing a QB in the top 5.

I just don't think we can compete financially with the Jets, they have so much cap room the can just keep boosting their offer to something we can't do. Only way we can get him is if the other teams just don't want him.

The other way is if they franchise tag him and we make a trade and work a deal for him. Heard some ideas of trading Talib, Sanders, and a 3rd, but that is getting into Madden territory.

Originally Posted by BigDaddyBronco

I just don't think we can compete financially with the Jets, they have so much cap room the can just keep boosting their offer to something we can't do. Only way we can get him is if the other teams just don't want him.

The other way is if they franchise tag him and we make a trade and work a deal for him. Heard some ideas of trading Talib, Sanders, and a 3rd, but that is getting into Madden territory.

I think we should take it with a grain of salt because money is always king - but Cousins has specifically said he'd take a little less to go to a winning team. So part of me wonders if Elway offers him a little less and is up front about the fact that he'll make a little less here but will compete for championships (in theory) every year.

Personally - I think Manning + Elway legacies work against us... If all things are equal and I'm Cousins, I'd rather go to the place with lower expectations who hasn't just won a Super Bowl. But who really knows, it's all wild speculation.

Originally Posted by Buff

I think we should take it with a grain of salt because money is always king - but Cousins has specifically said he'd take a little less to go to a winning team. So part of me wonders if Elway offers him a little less and is up front about the fact that he'll make a little less here but will compete for championships (in theory) every year.

Personally - I think Manning + Elway legacies work against us... If all things are equal and I'm Cousins, I'd rather go to the place with lower expectations who hasn't just won a Super Bowl. But who really knows, it's all wild speculation.

Yea, who really knows. The Jets might look like a better bet than us, they finished off the season strong and we still have VJ. historically, we would be the easy choice, but recently....

Originally Posted by weazel

The NFL has skewed the rules so much the defences have no chance, welcome to the CFL 2.0

Yeah, true. Often times and in the last 4 SBs, the games have come down to defensive plays that either sealed it or was the key play of the game.

Pats and the Butler int at the one.
Von Miller strip sack when the game was still in doubt.
The sack on Matt Ryan that pushed Atlanta out FG range.
The strip sack of Brady.

How many SBs were decided on a key defensive play or a defense simply dominating?

Yes, the rules tend to neuter the defenses, but that is really relative.

Originally Posted by Northman

Also, Cousins has proven he can carry a team at least in terms of stats. The last two years he has had NOTHING to work with on offense yet has put up numbers. If you are implying that Foles carried the Eagles to a SB title you would be very wrong. He played a part but he was surrounded by far better talent. I know you want to keep beating this drum about QB's getting paid and then doing nothing (which is false by the way) but then you would be advocating changing QB's every couple of years based on a short term success with the team. You are then saying that Denver should take a scrub QB (which we already have) and then PRAY that they can win a SB on a defense that isnt near as good or ever will be to the 2015 team, and then drop the QB and replace him with another scrub/young QB and again PRAy that the team can repeat its success. I dont know if you have been paying attention the last couple of years because in order to even compete for a SB you have to have a very good to great QB on the roster tp even make the playoffs. Backup and subpar QB's can only get you so far and generally they have success when the team around them is much better and can CARRY them.

meh. . . who needs a good quarterback? i for one love the idea of watching tyrod taylor run our offense for the next five years. . . think of all the money we'd save!

For everyone who is cringing at the money Jimmy G just made and that Cousins will command, just understand that it’s the norm now.

We pay now or pay later, what does it matter? Let’s say we decide that Cousins is too much at 30 mil. Fine. So we sign someone like Tyrod Taylor or Teddy Bridgewater or some other scrub journeyman plug-in for 18-20 mil and draft a guy. Now let’s say we get whoever your favorite QB is in the draft (Rosen, Darnold, Mayfield, whoever IDGAF) and that guy turns out to be a damned solid guy who starts in 2019. In 2021 (his 4th year) we will be looking to sign him to a contract extension which, by then, will likely be close to 40 mil a year. Are we gonna say **** it and do what Washington did to Cousins or just pay the money then?

Any way you look at it QBs are retarded expensive and you’re gonna have to pay the piper eventually. There are no more free rides. Pay Cousins now, or pay someone else later (and hope you actually can find a guy worth the $).

Originally Posted by BigDaddyBronco

Yea, who really knows. The Jets might look like a better bet than us, they finished off the season strong and we still have VJ. historically, we would be the easy choice, but recently....

we may have had a really bad year with VJ. . . but teams like the jets and browns are working on bad decades. . . in our entire history under mr. B's ownership, we have never stayed down for any length of time. . . have the browns, cards or jets ever really been up? if he honestly wants to win, i truly believe we're the choice-- we've been to more super bowls during kirk's NFL career than the browns and jets have been to in his entire life. . .

Originally Posted by dogfish

meh. . . who needs a good quarterback? i for one love the idea of watching tyrod taylor run our offense for the next five years. . . think of all the money we'd save!

You can't even put that out into the universe, man

Doggington, you got a minute to discuss your take on how good you think KC is?

Originally Posted by Von Kinger

Doggington, you got a minute to discuss your take on how good you think KC is?

i'm doin' about four different things right now. . . what you got?

ultimately, the bottom line is this. . . there are a number of different ways a one-off team can be built. . . but if you want to be in the mix every year, you pretty much HAVE TO be able to draft and develop well. . . regardless of who your QB is or how much you pay him, good luck putting sufficient talent around him if you aren't able to find guys in the draft who can give you good production on their rookie contracts. . . not to mention the significant fact that you typically have to overpay to land free agents, while you can often keep your own guys on at least slightly more reasonable deals by extending them before they hit the market, when you're not bidding against the whole league. . . even in our one-off year, on a team that was largely cobbled together with high profile FAs like manning, talib and ware, we still don't get it done if we don't have von miller, chris harris, bradley roby, derek wolfe, malik jackson, danny trevathan, demaryius thomas and CJ anderson. . .

it's the main reason i was so disappointed when we elected not to expand or upgrade our smallest in the league front office. . . kirk will eat a metric ton of our cap space if we do get him. . . guys like scot mccloughan and elliot wolf wouldn't have cost a penny against the cap, but they may have saved us a fat chunk of space in the coming years by helping us hit on more useful draft picks. . . oh well, i guess that ship has sailed. . .

Originally Posted by HORSEPOWER 56

For everyone who is cringing at the money Jimmy G just made and that Cousins will command, just understand that it’s the norm now.

We pay now or pay later, what does it matter? Let’s say we decide that Cousins is too much at 30 mil. Fine. So we sign someone like Tyrod Taylor or Teddy Bridgewater or some other scrub journeyman plug-in for 18-20 mil and draft a guy. Now let’s say we get whoever your favorite QB is in the draft (Rosen, Darnold, Mayfield, whoever IDGAF) and that guy turns out to be a damned solid guy who starts in 2019. In 2021 (his 4th year) we will be looking to sign him to a contract extension which, by then, will likely be close to 40 mil a year. Are we gonna say **** it and do what Washington did to Cousins or just pay the money then?

Any way you look at it QBs are retarded expensive and you’re gonna have to pay the piper eventually. There are no more free rides. Pay Cousins now, or pay someone else later (and hope you actually can find a guy worth the $).

The drafted QB would be locked up for five years before needing to be resigned. With franchise tag, he could be resigned in his fifth year to an extension or risk it and franchise if necessary.

The question is Cousins the best player in the NFL? Can you even saw with confidence that he's a top five QB? Top ten? Top fifteen?

More important, are the Broncos a QB away from being in the SB? If Cousins was on the team last year, were the Broncos a SB team?

Originally Posted by Tned

The drafted QB would be locked up for five years before needing to be resigned. With franchise tag, he could be resigned in his fifth year to an extension or risk it and franchise if necessary.

The question is Cousins the best player in the NFL? Can you even saw with confidence that he's a top five QB? Top ten? Top fifteen?

More important, are the Broncos a QB away from being in the SB? If Cousins was on the team last year, were the Broncos a SB team?

You never let players get into that final year or you get ****** like we did with Von Miller and DT. Letting guys’ contracts expire or tagging them, especially if you know you want to keep them is just bad business and typically ends up costing you way more than just signing them a year early. The Seahawks re-signed Wilson before it became an issue and it was a non event for them. If you’re smart you lock up your top players before they set the “highest paid player at their position” bar.

Are the Broncos a Super Bowl team with Tyrod Taylor and a rookie QB? What happens if we spend the #5 on a QB and he busts? Back to the drawing board again? Having a “franchise” QB is essential nowadays. If you don’t have one, you spend all your time trying to acquire one instead of trying to win Championships.

My question is, would Tom Brady's numbers be any better than Cousins’ if he played in Washington? How about Brees or Roethlisberger? I really doubt it. Pick a “top 5” QB and tell me they’d have better numbers or more wins in Washington.