Kirk Cousins is getting his money. The Vikings reportedly are going to sign him to a three-year deal averaging $28 million, making him the league’s highest-paid player. He’s also got a nice cast of characters around him.
The Vikings won the NFC North last year, falling a game short of becoming the first team to host a Super Bowl. They’ve got a top-5 defense. And they’ll have an above-average tailback if Dalvin Cook fully recovers from the knee injury that shelved him for most of last year.
And Minnesota is well stocked with pass catchers. Kyle Rudolph is a Pro Bowl tight end. They’re not yet giving up on Laquon Treadwell, who hasn’t done much in his first two seasons but might still develop into a contributor. And in Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, the Vikings have one of the best pairs of wide receivers in the entire league.
Only two pairs of wide receivers last year caught more passes than Thielen and Diggs, and only three caught more passes. Using standard fantasy scoring, only three teams had a pair of wide receivers who put up better overall numbers.
Cousins will be well compensated for his work with the Vikings, but he’s probably also excited about the pass catchers he’ll be working with.
| MOST PRODUCTIVE PAIRS OF WIDE RECEIVERS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 2 WR | No | Yards | Avg | TD | Points |
| Brown-SSchuster, Pitt. | 159 | 2,450 | 15.4 | 16 | 341.0 |
| Hopkins-Fuller, Hou. | 124 | 1,801 | 14.5 | 20 | 300.1 |
| M.Jones-Tate, Det. | 153 | 2,104 | 13.8 | 14 | 294.4 |
| Thielen-Diggs, Minn. | 155 | 2,125 | 13.7 | 12 | 284.5 |
| Landry-Stills, Mia. | 170 | 1,834 | 10.8 | 15 | 273.4 |
| Allen-T.Williams, LAC | 145 | 2,121 | 14.6 | 10 | 272.1 |
| J.Jones-Sanu, Atl. | 155 | 2,147 | 13.9 | 8 | 262.7 |
| Jeffery-Agholor, Phil. | 119 | 1,557 | 13.1 | 17 | 257.7 |
| Thomas-Ginn, N.E. | 157 | 2,032 | 12.9 | 9 | 257.2 |
| Baldwin-Richardson, Sea. | 119 | 1,694 | 14.2 | 14 | 253.4 |
| Anderson-Kearse, NYJ | 128 | 1,751 | 13.7 | 12 | 247.1 |
| Adams-Cobb, G.B. | 140 | 1,538 | 11.0 | 14 | 237.8 |
| T.Hill-Wilson, K.C. | 117 | 1,737 | 14.8 | 10 | 233.7 |
| Green-LaFell, Cin. | 127 | 1,626 | 12.8 | 11 | 228.6 |
| Cooks-Amendola, N.O. | 126 | 1,741 | 13.8 | 9 | 228.1 |
| Kupp-R.Woods, LAR | 118 | 1,650 | 14.0 | 10 | 225.0 |
| Fitzgerald-Ja.Brown, Ariz. | 140 | 1,633 | 11.7 | 10 | 223.3 |
| Cooper-Crabtree, Oak. | 106 | 1,298 | 12.2 | 15 | 219.8 |
| Evans-D.Jackson, T.B. | 121 | 1,669 | 13.8 | 8 | 214.9 |
| D.Thomas-Sanders, Den. | 130 | 1,504 | 11.6 | 7 | 192.4 |
| Funchess-Benjamin, Car. | 95 | 1,315 | 13.8 | 10 | 191.5 |
| Crowder-Doctson, Wash. | 101 | 1,291 | 12.8 | 9 | 183.1 |
| K.Cole-M.Lee, Jac. | 98 | 1,450 | 14.8 | 6 | 181.0 |
| Bryant-Williams, Dall. | 122 | 1,406 | 11.5 | 6 | 176.6 |
| Hilton-Moncrief, Ind. | 83 | 1,357 | 16.3 | 6 | 171.7 |
| Matthews-Decker, Tenn. | 107 | 1,358 | 12.7 | 5 | 165.8 |
| Goodwin-T.Taylor, S.F. | 99 | 1,392 | 14.1 | 4 | 163.2 |
| Wallace-Maclin, Balt. | 92 | 1,188 | 12.9 | 7 | 160.8 |
| Shepard-R.Lewis, NYG | 95 | 1,147 | 12.1 | 4 | 138.7 |
| Wright-Bellamy, Chi. | 83 | 990 | 11.9 | 2 | 111.0 |
| Thompson-Z.Jones, Buff. | 54 | 746 | 13.8 | 3 | 92.6 |
| Higgins-Coleman, Clev. | 50 | 617 | 12.3 | 4 | 85.7 |
—Ian Allan