That Cousins guy

Sometimes there is this disconnect between the Blob and the wider world. I sense it most when I'm in my car, the miles unspooling across the emptied-out winter landscape of Indiana. The radio is dialed down to a low mutter. The usual yammering heads are yammering away ...

And suddenly I enter the Don't Get It Zone.

The yammering, see, is all about Kirk Cousins.

Whose signing with the Vikings as a free agent is imminent, apparently, and apparently for ridiculous piles of money ($84 million). It's a signature deal, because Cousins is going to get every dime of it guaranteed. Turmoil is going to ensue from this, allegedly. His new teammates are going to wonder how he got this deal and none of them did. Especially when you consider he's not Drew Brees or Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, but just Kirk Cousins.

And the Blob doesn't get it. Just doesn't get it.

I've looked up Cousins numbers, see. And what I've seen is this:

In the last three seasons, respectively, he's thrown for 4,166 yards, 4,917 yards and 4,093 yards.

In the last three seasons, he's thrown for 29, 25 and 27 touchdowns.

In the last three seasons, his completion percentage is 69.8, 67 and 64.3.

For his career, he's completed 65 percent of his passes. For his career, his QBR is 93.7.

There aren't half a dozen quarterbacks in the NFL with numbers like that. And he's done it largely without weapons for a dumpster fire franchise in Washington. In Minnesota, he'll have all the weapons he needs and more.

So why is he Just Kirk Cousins? Why does everyone say he's no better than a second-tier quarterback and barely an upgrade from Case Keenum?

I don't get it. Just don't get it.

Look, if Cousins is a second-tier QB ... well, second-tier is not only good in this era's NFL, it's great. Because once you get past Brady and Brees and Rodgers and Russell Wilson and probably Ben Roethlisberger, there are no top-tier quarterbacks in the NFL. There probably are no more than five or six second-tier quarterbacks. I mean, have you seen who's starting at quarterback in the league these days?

So, yeah, Cousins is more than Just Kirk Cousins. And if $84 million fully-guaranteed for his services seems outlandish, it doesn't when you consider the market for QBs in 2018.

Which is why I can't see it causing grumbling in the locker room, especially if his deal resets the market. You don't think Cousins getting fully guaranteed money opens the door for other guys to get fully guaranteed money?  Because that's how these things tend to work. And if that happens, do you honestly think Cousins' teammates are going to resent him for that?

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe today's players aren't as savvy about these things as I think. But I think they'll see the bigger picture here.

And if not?

Well, then I truly don't get it. So be it.