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The first day of NFL free agency saw a quarterback-receiver feud escalate — and promptly get settled. In a strange two-hour span Monday afternoon, the Vikings gave a two-year, $66 million extension to enigmatic quarterback Kirk Cousins, only to see teammate Stefon Diggs respond by posting to his verified Twitter account that “it’s time for …
The first day of NFL free agency saw a quarterback-receiver feud escalate — and promptly get settled.
In a strange two-hour span Monday afternoon, the Vikings gave a two-year, $66 million extension to enigmatic quarterback Kirk Cousins, only to see teammate Stefon Diggs respond by posting to his verified Twitter account that “it’s time for a new beginning.”
By the end of the night, Diggs’ wish — echoing hints of displeasure he voiced in the past — was granted.
The Vikings sent Diggs and a seventh-round draft pick to the Bills for a first-rounder, a fifth-rounder, a sixth-rounder and a fourth-rounder in 2021, according to multiple reports. With Diggs and Josh Brown, the Bills have two speedy wideouts to catch the deep balls chucked by strong-armed Josh Allen in a suddenly potent offense.
Cousins, who answered some of his many critics by winning a playoff game at the Saints last season, signed a fully guaranteed three-year, $84 million free-agent contract with the Vikings in 2018. He butted heads with his own receivers, including Adam Theilen and Diggs, when the Vikings started slowly last season.
The extension freed up $10 million in cap space for the cap-strapped Vikings. Cousins reportedly now has $61 million guaranteed coming over the next three years.
An offshoot of the Diggs trade is it made the already foolish-looking Texans look even sillier for trading DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals for running back David Johnson, a second-round draft pick in 2020 and a fourth-rounder in 2021.
Diggs caught the “Minnesota Miracle” touchdown in the 2017 playoffs against the Saints and followed it up with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons (with 15 of his 30 career touchdowns), but he is not in the same class as Hopkins.
As the Buccaneers try to upgrade their passer (Tom Brady?), they retained their vaunted pass rush.
Shaq Barrett received the franchise tag and Jason Pierre-Paul re-signed for two years and $27 million. That duo combined for 28 sacks last season despite Pierre-Paul, who has given his career a second life after a trade from the Giants in 2018, missing six games from injuries suffered in a car accident.
On New Year’s Eve, Bears general manager Ryan Pace declared under-siege quarterback Mitch Trubisky as his starter. The next three months have been all about linking veteran quarterbacks to the Bears.
Who is most likely to challenge Trubisky?
If the Bears are willing to trade, Andy Dalton (Bengals) and Nick Foles (Jaguars) are available and both previously played for Bears coach Matt Nagy, offensive coordinator Bill Lazor and/or quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo.
