The biggest question of the NFL off-season appears to be settled with ESPN reporting that Kirk Cousins plans to sign for the Minnesota Vikings on a three-year deal worth $84m later this week.

The 29-year-old Cousins has been one of the most productive quarterbacks in the league over the last few seasons and was courted by a number of teams when it became clear he would leave Washington. The shortlist was narrowed down to the Vikings and the New York Jets over the last few weeks with Minnesota, who reached the NFC Championship game last season, offering the best chance at a Super Bowl and the Jets with the salary cap space to offer Cousins more money.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported the news but Cousins’s agent said the deal was not yet done – free agency does not open until Wednesday in any case. “No final decisions have been made,” Cousins’s agent Mike McCartney said. “The plan is to visit Minnesota first. That’s all we can say right now.”

Once it became apparent the Jets would not sign Cousins, they looked elsewhere. They re-signed veteran Josh McCown, who had a solid season for them in 2017, and are poised to pick up Teddy Bridgewater whose promising career in Minnesota was ruined by injury on a one-year deal.

Meanwhile, Drew Brees is set to end one of the finest careers in NFL history with the team where he made his name. There had been speculation the future Hall of Famer would move to the Minnesota Vikings but on Tuesday he confirmed he has agreed a new deal with the Saints, thought to be for two years and worth $50m.

Brees turned 39 in January and said he hopes to be a “Saint for life”. The 11-time Pro Bowler led the Saints to victory in Super Bowl XLIV, a championship loaded with symbolism as New Orleans recovered from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina five years earlier. As well as his close ties to the city, Brees would have been encouraged to stay with the team due to its emergence as a contender in the NFC. The Saints were seconds away from reaching the NFC championship game last season before a late touchdown from the Vikings ended their hopes.

“There was no doubt in our minds, I think both myself and the Saints, that we were gonna get a deal done,” Brees said. “It was just a matter of what was the most fair deal for me and for the team to put us in the best position to succeed in the near future. And that’s what we tried to do with the deal.”

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Brees started his career with the San Diego Chargers but it is with the Saints that he made his mark. He has 58,097 passing yards and 408 touchdowns with the Saints and is likely to become the NFL’s all-time passing yards leader at some point in the 2018 season.

While Brees stays put, the man who helped break Saints’ hearts in the playoffs is on the move. Case Keenum threw the touchdown that beat New Orleans in January’s divisional playoff but looks set to leave Minnesota for the Denver Broncos when free agency opens up on Wednesday. Denver have long boasted an excellent defense but have been hampered by poor quarterbacks since Peyton Manning’s retirement - and even he was a shadow of his former self in his final, Super Bowl winning season.

Keenum’s signing would mean that the Broncos can turn their attention to plugging other holes in their line-up. They will pick fifth overall in this year’s draft and could go after defensive end Bradley Chubb, running back Saquon Barkley or guard Quenton Nelson. Alternatively they could trade down: the Buffalo Bills have two first-round picks that could tempt the Broncos.

For some the jury is still out on Keenum. Although he was excellent for the Vikings last season, he was surrounded by a very good team and had an undistinguished career bouncing around the league before arriving in Minnesota.

Sam Bradford, who was also on the Vikings roster last season, is reportedly on his way to the Arizona Cardinals on a one-year, $20m deal.