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The idea began to percolate about 2 years ago William Jackson Jersey , in discussions between Kirk Cousins and agent Mike McCartney about his status with the Washington Redskins and his future in the NFL.

The goal was to get a fully guaranteed contract, the security players in this league of high turnover and short shelf lives have sought for decades, unlike their peers in professional baseball, basketball and hockey who are accustomed to guaranteed money.

This week, when Cousins finally reached free agency after two consecutive seasons playing on the franchise tag, the Minnesota Vikings made that once-unrealistic aspiration happen with an $84 million, three-year deal.

”It took a great player to come to the market, and it’s not easy to get to the market with great players,” McCartney said. ”It’s just the way it turned out. It’s been an exciting several weeks in anticipation. We researched all fall, the different teams and potential options. At one point, we never thought that the Vikings would need a quarterback and yet still did our research and homework on them. As we got closer to free agency, I had a feeling we were going to have an opportunity.”

As a low draft pick who was forced to work his way up the depth chart and has never won a postseason game, Cousins represented an unlikely candidate to set the precedent. The market always flows toward the demand, though, and because Washington was lukewarm on his long-term potential, Cousins was able to make about $44 million over the last two years and still hit free agency in his prime with no history of significant injury. The Redskins declined to use the franchise tag a third time and acquired Alex Smith in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs instead.

That allowed a player who topped 4 Kelvin Benjamin Jersey ,000 passing yards in three straight seasons to cash in on the volume of quarterback-needy teams in the NFL, where there’s perpetually a short supply of true superstars at the most challenging of all positions.

”It would be great if this would be a game changer and started a trend. Hopefully, there are some high-profile guys who can build on this and go beyond Kirk’s money but still have a fully guaranteed contract,” McCartney said, adding: ”It’s time for it to happen.”

The Vikings were the other critical part of this equation, of course. They drafted Teddy Bridgewater in the first round in 2014 with the expectation he’d become their franchise quarterback, but he wrecked his knee right before the 2016 season and has yet to start a game since then. His replacement, Sam Bradford, became a free agent. So did his super sub, Case Keenum. With a roster on the cusp of a Super Bowl, having lost to the eventual champion Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC championship game, the Vikings were more than willing to be as aggressive as they needed to acquire the quarterback they believed was the best available free agent.

”I don’t know where it’s going to go,” Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said. ”But I know when a player of this caliber gets out there on the market and he’s been franchised two years in a row, and it’s the quarterback position, you’re going to have to do what you have to do. If we didn’t, I know a lot of other teams out there would have.”

The Vikings didn’t offer Cousins the most overall money Sean Mannion Jersey , McCartney said, but they were confident enough in Cousins to commit to not only the largest per-year average in NFL history (topping Jimmy Garoppolo) but the biggest guaranteed figure the league has seen (beating Matthew Stafford). Those benchmarks will be temporary, of course, with quarterbacks of greater ability and accomplishment like Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan in the queue for contract extensions with their clubs.

The ice has at least been chipped, though, if not broken wide open.

”It won’t matter if other players after me choose to go a different route,” Cousins said at his introductory news conference on Thursday. ”It is what it is for my situation, but players after me have to decide what they want to do.”

There are a number of complex reasons why NFL contracts have so rarely been guaranteed like those in MLB, the NBA or the NHL, with one being a decades-old clause in the collective bargaining agreement that requires teams to put deferred guaranteed money in escrow. That was devised before the league’s revenue boom to ensure teams wouldn’t run out of cash to pay players. Now, the rule can simply deter deep-pocketed owners from granting long-term, guaranteed deals that require cutting massive checks that won’t be cashed for years.

”Now we have so much TV money that it’s completely unnecessary from my vantage point,” McCartney said.

The key to making this a trend instead of a footnote will be more players willing to take shorter contracts. If Cousins asked for a five-year deal, the total value likely wouldn’t have been much higher if at all. In so many contracts over the course of the modern NFL, the maximum value was never paid out because teams were able to cut an aged or underperforming players without being on the hook for much if any guaranteed money in the latter part of the deal.

McCartney acknowledged his confidence level of fulfilling this goal was relatively low when he first approached the Redskins about a new contract for his client. Cousins picked the Vikings for more than just the desirability of their offer. They provided him the best championship opportunity of all the suitors, and he raved about the culture and leadership he discovered through his research and initial visit to team headquarters.

”Just so grateful for the way things have played out Nate Hairston Jersey ,

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are going back to the Super Bowl in search of a sixth title.

They’ll face a Philadelphia Eagles team looking for their first Lombardi Trophy.

Brady led the Patriots (15-3) back from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-20 in the AFC championship game Sunday.

Starting his 36th playoff game, Brady shook off an injury to his right hand and the loss of top target Rob Gronkowski to rally the Patriots to their record 10th Super Bowl appearance.

The Patriots will try to match the Pittsburgh Steelers’ six Super Bowl trophies when they face the Eagles (15-3) on Feb. 4 in Minneapolis.

Nick Foles, the backup QB who was thrust into the starting role when Carson Wentz blew out his left knee last month, led the Philadelphia to a 38-7 rout of the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC championship game.

Foles threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns, showing poise and moxie in going 26 for 33.

The Vikings were hoping to become the first NFL team to serve as host to a Super Bowl in its own stadium, but they followed up their ”Minneapolis Miracle ” with a ”Flop in Philly.”

So, they’ll clear out their lockers long before the Eagles and Patriots and their fans take over U.S. Bank Stadium for Super Bowl 52 in two weeks.

Oddsmakers like the chances of Brady winning a sixth Super Bowl ring , making the Patriots nearly a touchdown favorite to beat the Eagles.

The Patriots and Eagles, who last won an NFL title in 1960, several years before the first Super Bowl, met in the Super Bowl after the 2004 season with the Patriots prevailing 24-21.

Hours after Brady’s game-winning 4-yard TD pass to Danny Amendola with 2:48 remaining in Foxborough, the Eagles won for the fourth time in five tries under Foles.

It started out ominously, however.

The Vikings celebrated Kyle Rudolph’s 25-yard touchdown catch from Case Keenum on their opening drive by mimicking the Olympic sport of curling for their TD celebration.

It was the Eagles who had all the fun after that.

Patrick Robinson’s spectacular 50-yard interception return got Philadelphia started. Then Foles and his offense tore up the league’s stingiest scoring defense, with long TD throws to Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith. LeGarrette Blount had an 11-yard scoring run when things were decided in the first half, and the Eagles were headed to an NFL title game the Vikings (14-4) hoped to be in at their own stadium.

”You know everyone was against us Giovani Bernard Jersey ,” Foles said. ”Coming out here and stick together and (we) come away with an amazing victory against a great team.”

Blake Bortles and the stingy Jaguars (12-7) led New England 20-10 early in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t hold against the defending champions.

The NFL’s second-ranked defense kept Brady and the Patriots at bay for most of the game, but lost linebacker Myles Jack and defensive tackle Marcell Dareus on consecutive plays on New England’s winning drive.

It was New England’s 13th win in 14 games since their 2-2 start. Their only stumble since September was a 27-20 loss at the Dolphins on Dec. 11.

Brady, wearing a black bandage on his right hand after needing stitches to close a cut that happened on a play during practice earlier in the week, showed no signs of being hampered.

And, with the game – and the season – possibly on the line, the Patriots star came up big again.

”I’ve had a lot worse,” Brady said. ”I didn’t know that on Wednesday. It was a crazy injury. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday was a little scary. Then I started getting some confidence and today we did just enough to win.”

Brady finished 26 of 38 for 290 yards and two touchdowns to Amendola.

It’s the eighth Super Bowl appearance for Brady and coach Bill Belichick, who have won five times – including last year’s 34-28 overtime rally against the Falcons.

”It’s pretty amazing,” Brady said. ”Just to be on a team that wins these kinds of games, it’s just a great accomplishment.”

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