Here’s an interesting wrinkle for the 35-year-old, four-time Pro Bowler: The two presumed primary players in his sweepstakes are led by the coordinators from the 2021 Super Bowl–winning Los Angeles Rams.
In one corner, you have Sean McVay’s offensive coordinator from that year, and Cousins’s play-caller of the past two seasons: Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell. In the other, you have the former defensive coordinator, who was also in Washington for Cousins’s first three NFL seasons: Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris. And if there’s one lesson anyone can take from that Rams title season, it’d probably be to never be afraid to take a big swing on a quarterback.
So how big a swing will these two take on Cousins?
The fact that Minnesota’s in the position to lose Cousins in the coming hours shows that the Vikings have set boundaries on that. A year ago, the team was unwilling to guarantee money more than two years out—which meant, at the time, past 2024—and communicated to the quarterback’s camp that, as much as Minnesota likes Cousins, it wasn’t going to do a third deal that was (essentially, in the case of the second deal) fully guaranteed over three years.
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That said, I feel strongly that O’Connell wants to do all he can to hang on to Cousins. The coach’s offense is at its best when it’s leveraged by a quarterback who has a coordinator’s command at the line of scrimmage—something made plainly evident in O’Connell’s year with Matthew Stafford in Los Angeles. That it’s come to the point where Cousins will hit the market, to me, means that O’Connell’s relationship with the quarterback will be important as the decision is finalized.
As for the Falcons, they’re lurking as the team expected to be most aggressive in going after outside veteran options at quarterback. I’d expect a spirited run at Cousins, particularly with Baker Mayfield off the market. They have the space to work with, and an attractive situation to lure Cousins. And if they strike out there, I think a trade with Chicago for Justin Fields could be in play.
My guess would be all this lands Cousins in the $40 million per year range—with the guarantee structure being an important factor since that’s really the only way a team can show him that he’ll be the starting quarterback for more than just a bridge year or two.
