Fall 2024

Minnesota Vikings QB Kirk Cousins agrees to two-year contract extension

The Minnesota Vikings and quarterback Kirk Cousins have agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension that will keep him with the team at least through the 2022 season.

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The 31-year-old quarterback was entering the final year of his deal in 2020 and was set to enter free agency after the season. The two new years are worth $66 million, with $61 million guaranteed, according to ESPN.

Cousins is one of the more outspoken followers of Christ in the NFL. His Twitter account quotes a part of the Bible verse Micah 6:8, which says, “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”

The quarterback appeared on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in 2018, was featured in the Sports Spectrum Magazine for the Fall 2018 edition and delivered his testimony for Football Sunday 2019.

“I want to see lives changed for the Kingdom and I want as many people as possible to come to know the hope of the Gospel,” Cousins said for Football Sunday, “but also not only to come to know Jesus through the Gospel but then to make Him Lord of their life and to see what I’ve seen in terms of decades of the Lord’s hand guiding a life…. That’s what I want my life to be about.”

God’s guiding hand has led Cousins to Minnesota for the last two years, where he helped the Vikings to an 18-13-1 regular-season record. The team missed the playoffs in 2018 but posted a 10-6 record and made the NFC playoffs as the No. 6 seed this past fall. The Vikings defeated the Saints on the road, 26-20 in overtime, in the wild-card matchup before falling to San Francisco in the divisional round. The win at New Orleans was the first playoff victory of Cousins’ career.

In an interview with FOX following the game, Cousins discussed his faith:

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“It’s the foundation of my life. And ultimately that’s where I gain my peace and my strength,” he said. “Win or lose today, God is still on the throne and I take comfort in that.”

Cousins was previously with Washington for six seasons before joining Minnesota. His passer rating of 107.4 in 2019 was the best mark of his career, and his six interceptions were the fewest since his rookie season, when he played in three games.

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