If he so desired, could have overseen the most bonkers bidding war in NFL history.The Pro Bowl quarterback, still not age 30 and entering his prime, had four teams all with aspirations of landing him. Cousins, if he desired, could have held up free agency around the league by dragging out his negotiations by pitting team against team as his agent went back and forth for days shopping offers. But that was never how this was going to play out. It's not what Cousins and his family wanted, and it certainly wasn't what his agent, Mike McCartney, advised. Instead, according to numerous sources involved in this proce s, things were much more streamlined, tidy and compact, instead of the freewheeling Reggie Jackson Jersey , free-for-all that the Cousins free-agent derby could have easily become.Cousins and McCartney had months to prepare for this day, they understood the pros and cons of all teams involved, and by the combine last month it was abundantly clear around the league that the , , and were the teams with true intent to get something done, albeit with varying degrees of resources. It was also abundantly clear that the Jets had the most cash and cap reserves to land him. They were also the most aggre sive and malleable of his potential suitors. The Vikings, meanwhile, from a football standpoint, were clearly the team that offered the most opportunity to win immediately, and for the long haul, which was always paramount with Cousins.In most I dare say almost all instances like this, in the end, money talks (often, frankly, it screams, in e sence making the decision for the player and agent). In this rare instance, that was never going to be the case, because the ground rules established by the player and agent precluded it from the onset. The player and agent have long been in lockstep with shared convictions, having navigated through two straight franchise tags and constant discord in Washington Paul O'Neill Jersey to finally hit the market in a timely fashion. According to numerous sources, here's how it all unfolded. By Monday, when the legal tampering period began, McCartney touched base with all four teams to let them know how to proceed. Cousins did not want to sign with any team sight unseen, so he was going to take at least one visit, and perhaps more. But he didn't want to hold teams up from finding contingency plans at quarterback. The market would clearly be fast and furious at most positions well before the official opening of NFL free agency at 4 p.m. Wednesday, when in fact, most key deals would already be agreed upon (and, sure enough, the the Broncos promptly had a pact with early in the week, and the Cardinals with and the Jets with , also McCartney's client, as well as ).Cousins didn't want this to be a mad dash to throw cash at him, he didn't want to overly commodify himself and he and McCartney wanted to make it as fair as po sible and try to limit any hard feelings. So they let it be known that rather than this becoming a football version of "Storage Wars," instead it would unfold more like a silent auction. Each team was advised to make their best bid once and only once, Don Mattingly Jersey when the negotiating period began at the start of the week, and then Cousins would sort through them and move diligently towards a decision."I know not everyone is happy with how it all went down," said an executive from one club involved in the proce s, "but I think Mike tried to come up with something that was fair to the teams and his client." All things being even remotely equal, it was obvious that if the Vikings were even in the ballpark with the other teams involved, that's where he would land. They had the best roster, with a stout offensive line, multiple legit receiving threats, an elite defense, a running game that should improve with the return of from injury and they came this close to hosting a Super Bowl in February with Keenum as their quarterback. It was clear what the other three teams were up against. And, the Twin Cities would be a great place for Cousins and his wife to raise their young family, and offer a very different lifestyle and media climate from the highly-charged atmosphere Cousins dealt with in Washington.So yeah, the deck was stacked in the Vikings' favor, and everyone involved kind of knew it, and someone was going to have to come over the top financially in order to close the gap, in all likelihood. (Full Miguel Andujar Jersey disclosure, I didn't think Cousins would get $90M guaranteed without having to commit to a team for at least four-to-five years, and I was wrong). And once the Vikings came in with an offer that fit the desired contract structure McCartney favored (a three-year, fully guaranteed deal that puts Cousins in position to hit the market again at age 32), given the way McCartney set things up, they were going to be almost impo sible to beat. The Vikings came correct and offered $28M a year for three years - $84M right off the bat.The Broncos and Cardinals were always dabbling with contingency plans at quarterback and both clubs were deep in the evaluations of first-round quarterbacks in the draft as well. Sources with both of those teams, dating back to the combine, knew in their hearts that competing with the Vikings roster and the Jets' ability to front-load a contract would be challenging. But they submitted their offers and let it play out. The Jets, sources said, came in with the highest bid, and were willing to give Cousins $30M per year at least on a three-year deal, also all fully guaranteed (Cousins can make up the $6M difference between that offer and the Vikings offer if the QB hits all incentives, including a Super Bowl incentive, in the Vikings contract). On Tuesday things began to pick up. Cousins opted to take his first visit with the Vikings and McCartney let the other teams know that was going to be the next step. The Jets, upon learning they weren't getting the first visit, tried to sweeten the pot, saying they would go several million more a Johnny Damon Jersey year higher, still fully guaranteed.But by then, in e sence, the bidding part of this auction was over, however. The Jets let it be known they might be willing to go higher still, but Cousins was going to start his journey in Minnesota and very likely end it there as well. Because the Vikings were going to pull out all the stops and roll out the red carpet for the quarterback in a way the Skins never did for Cousins and this was going to be a good match for team and player."Two things I kept saying to Kirk - money is important, contract is important," McCartney told the Pioneer Pre s when Cousins signed his deal Thursday. "But I want you on a daily basis to jump out of bed excited to go to work, to go into a building that has a great culture and a chance to win. But at the same token, at the end of the day, I want you to get excited to go home where your wife and family are flourishing. And if we can find both of those I think we've done our job." Would the Jets have gone as high as $100M fully guaranteed on