Kirk Cousins Not Giving Discount on New Contract, Says ESPN

The Minnesota Vikings and quarterback Kirk Cousins are no closer to agreeing on a deal, and in fact, it seems Kirk could be on the way out.

With Cousins set to command a hefty price tag as per spotrac.com , he has a market value of $39.3 million annually and thus far, that kind of money is making the Vikings balk at signing him.

But if the Vikings thought that Cousins, who has been a loyal solider ever since he moved from Washington, would give them a hometown discount, they are sadly mistaken.

ESPN's Dan Graziano is reporting that Cousins has a specific target in mind regarding his salary and he has no interest in taking less, which could open the door for other teams to swoop in.

“Cousins has a very specific idea in mind for what he wants in a new contract, and the Vikings so far have not made an offer that matches it," Graziano said. "The ball might be in the team's court at this point. Cousins and his family like Minnesota and would be happy to stay and finish his career there, but it doesn't sound like he's willing to offer the team a hometown discount… I expect the Falcons to make a strong pursuit. I have been told by multiple sources this week that signing Cousins -- not trading for Justin Fields -- is the Falcons' top QB solution, assuming Cousins makes it to free agency.”

Cousins looms as the biggest free agent domino to fall this offseason as many teams desperately need a quarterback.

While Cousins will likely want top-of-the-market money, the Vikings can't afford to pay him when they have Justin Jefferson wanting to be the highest-paid receiver in football as well. However, teams like the Atlanta Falcons have been linked to the quarterback for weeks.

Related: Vikings Quarterback Suffers Torn Achilles; Out For Season

There is still a lot to play out here, but Cousins isn't interested in leaving money on the table, and based on what we know about what Cousins went through (as we saw in the Netflix show Quarterback), we can't blame him for wanting to get every cent he can.