Kirk Cousins finished the 2014 NFL season with the league's worst interception rate among the 36 quarterbacks with at least 200 pass attempts. He proceeded to produce the contract year of all contract years, finishing 2015 among the statistical elite -- and in the playoffs as the starting quarterback for the NFC East-champion Washington Redskins.
Cousins was one of the more obvious choices for my 22-man roster featuring players headed for big paydays after playing out their contracts in 2015. Call it the All-Contract-Year Team.
Quarterback
Kirk Cousins, Washington Redskins: Finishing among the NFL's top six in both passer rating (101.6) and Total QBR (70.1) while winning the NFC East will go down as one of the most timely breakout performances in the history of free agency. Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Russell Wilson and Carson Palmer are the only other players over the past five seasons to score 100 or higher in passer rating and 70 or higher in QBR over a 16-start season. Cousins led the NFL in completion percentage, as well.