Three Kirk Cousins Free Agency Destinations

NFL free agency will officially begin on Monday, March 11 but the rumor mill has been churning at full capacity for months. Recent scuttlebutt suggests Kirk Cousins is done in Minnesota. The Vikings quarterback is a free agent this offseason coming off a torn Achilles and will be 36 years old when next season kicks off. That sort of injury at that age isn't a death sentence for an NFL career anymore but it ain't great, either.

There's a lot of logic in the idea that the Vikings would want to move on, and now we're getting reports from places like Pro Football Talk about Cousins moving his family to a different state.

None of that means anything when we're still a week out from Cousins actually signing somewhere, but noise is noise. It seems that, if anything, the former Pro Bowl quarterback will at least consider signing elsewhere after spending the last six years in Minnesota.

In theory, he will have a lot of suitors because he is by far the best free agent quarterback available. Cousins threw for more than 4,500 yards in 2022 with 29 touchdowns to 14 interceptions. Cousins has his well-noted flaws, especially in the playoffs, but half the teams in the NFL are flailing around trying to find league-average quarterback play. Cousins is better than that on his best days and right around there on his worst. Paying a good chunk of money for a high-floor quarterback is something many teams could talk themselves into, even with Cousins coming off a serious injury.

Here are three possible landing spots for Cousins ahead of free agency.

Atlanta Falcons

It is only natural we begin here after Mike Florio kicked the hornet's nest with that report on Monday night. Cousins and the Falcons are a great match. Atlanta has a great set of offensive weapons after spending several high draft picks on that side of the ball, giving everyone the impression that the team is ready-made for a decent quarterback to step in and succeed immediately. Cousins is more capable of doing so than a rookie, given his proven track record at the NFL level, and Atlanta is a bit out of range for any of the best quarterback prospects anyway.

Ultimately how good of an idea this is for the Falcons is entirely dependent on how much they want to pay Cousins. If they want to write him a sizable check because they believe him to be their savior, they're going to end up disappointed and potentially hamstrung financially after finally getting out of salary cap hell. But if they give Cousins a short deal worth something like $25 million annually, that would work out great for both sides.

New England Patriots

I was utterly convinced for months that the Patriots were going to end up starting Kirk Cousins under center in 2024. Most of that belief revolved around Bill Belichick's preferences and he obviously isn't around anymore. But a partnership still isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility. The Pats still need a quarterback and may prefer to grab another blue-chip prospect in the draft instead of taking a swing on Jayden Daniels. There are a lot of low-cost veterans available but none bring the potential ceiling of Cousins. If Jerod Mayo is serious about getting back to contending as soon as possible, signing Cousins is the quickest way to do so.

Is it the best long-term strategy? Probably not. Even if Cousins doesn't come back 100 percent from injury he's still miles better than the Mac Jones-Bailey Zappe combination, which means New England won't be as high in the draft as they are now for a while yet. This may be their best chance to secure a quarterback of the future; Cousins, for all his positives, is going to retire sometime in the near future and the Patriots will be left hanging again. But if they do go this route they have $100 million in cap space so they can afford to blow Cousins away in terms of their offer and still have plenty to shore up the rest of the weak roster.

Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders seem to finally be undergoing the hardcore rebuild they've needed for several years, cutting Jimmy Garoppolo and keeping Antonio Pierce rather than going after another big name. So they shouldn't be in any rush to find short-term solutions at any position, especially quarterback. But they may have an opportunity here, as their $47 million in cap space is projected to be 10th-most in the league. If Cousins' market isn't super hot and he wants a change, Vegas is the place to go.

At the very least the Raiders have a superstar receiver on the level of Justin Jefferson to offer with Davante Adams under contract for a while. The big selling point for Cousins would probably be the fat check the Raiders would have to write and the promise of being able to make the team his own. They're in need of leaders and Cousins can make his imprint there in a way he may not be able to elsewhere. It's not super likely but it is a possibility, especially if the Raiders talk themselves into being competitive ahead of schedule with Cousins under center.