When Kirk Cousins cashed in on his hard-earned free agent status, following two franchise-player tags by Washington, to sign a guaranteed three-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings worth $84 million, there was room to wonder if he'd ushered in a new age for NFL contracts.
NFL players and others have wondered over the years why guaranteed contracts are not the norm in football like they are in other professional sports such as baseball and basketball. Could the Cousins contract be the beginning of a move toward guaranteed contracts in pro football?
It's doubtful, given that Cousins' deal resulted from an unprecedented set of circumstances unlikely to arise very often, if ever again.