NFL rumors: Aaron Rodgers retirement, Matthew Stafford trade, Kirk Cousins payday incoming

Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season has arrived, and with it, no shortage of NFL rumors on Sunday morning as we wait for the first 1 p.m. slate of games to kick off for the year.

Here's the latest on various rumors reported Sunday morning, all having to do with quarterbacks around the league.

Kirk Cousins can force free agency which should help him secure more guaranteed money

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins will go down as one of the most well-paid QBs of the 20-teens and 2020s relative to his performance. Cousins is steady, if not a quality quarterback, but his massively guaranteed earnings have at times looked disproportionate relative to the quarterback market.

Eventually, a long-term deal he signed with the Vikings was caught up to by the market and didn't look so bad after some time had passed. But his three-year, $84 million guaranteed with the Vikings was looked at as an exorbitant spend for a short while. He followed that up with a 2-year, $66 million guaranteed contract.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the way Cousins' current contract is set up positions him for another go at free agency, just when plenty of teams should be pining for the services of someone like Cousins.

Schefter reminds us that the Vikings added four voidable years to the end of Cousins current deal, but reported that the contract stipulates the contract doesn't void until March 13, which is after the franchise tag deadline.

Therefore, Cousins could enter free agency in the offseason next year and greatly shake up the market. If he joins the market, he would be the best quarterback currently expected to be available, with Ryan Tannehill coming in at a distant second.

That means likely money incoming for one of the most handsomely-paid players of this era. It's all been about right place, right time for Cousins' paychecks, and that theme could very well continue.

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