On Monday morning — two years and one day after they first signed Kirk Cousins — the Vikings tied their fortunes to the quarterback through 2022 with a $66 million contract extension.
By Monday night, they had traded away the author of the “Minneapolis Miracle” at a time where his discontentment with the team had reached a breaking point.
The Vikings traded wide receiver Stefon Diggs and a 2021 seventh-round pick to the Buffalo Bills for the 22nd pick in this year’s draft, along with a fifth- and sixth-rounder this year and a fourth-rounder in 2021. The move closed a day that began with Cousins’ new deal, which again puts him among the NFL’s five highest-paid quarterbacks while reducing his salary cap charge by $9.