There’s a Wild Theory about Kirk Cousins
The Atlanta Falcons paid Kirk Cousins a four-year, $180 million contract less than one year ago — and are probably ready to cut ties after 14 games.
There’s a Wild Theory about Kirk Cousins
Atlanta is on tap to start Michael Penix Jr. in 2025, meaning, yes, it pretty much set $180 million on fire in front of a national audience.
And according to SI.com, Cousins’ next employer could be the Miami Dolphins. Conor Orr published a bold prediction per team this week, and Cousins-to-Miami represented the big Dolphins theory.
“The Dolphins will sign Kirk Cousins, and he’ll eventually wrest the starting job away from Tua Tagovailoa during the 2025 season. Cousins is a coveted asset among the Shanahan-ites for his decisiveness and processing skills,” Orr wrote.
Normally, in a situation like Cousins’, his current team would trade him to try and assuage some of the financial pain. But with Cousins, the veteran passer has a no-trade clause in his contract, muddying all possibilities of a financially sound resolution.
Orr added, “Much like Aaron Rodgers coming off the broken thumb finale in Green Bay, Cousins is a bit of a distressed asset who, in my opinion, still has some good football ahead of him. Unlike the Falcons, Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins can find a way to work him into the dynamic run game.”
Cousins spoke with NFL.com earlier this month, some five weeks before free agency kicks off. The ex-Vikings signal-caller seemed to know his time in Atlanta was limited and stated his health for 2025 is the primary focus at the moment.
“I definitely feel like I have a lot of good football left in me. Time will tell. It’s still kind of uncertain. We’ll get to March and know a lot more. But I think the focus for me really is getting healthy. That’s really my focus is I gotta get healthy,” Cousins said about his next steps.
Cousins’ Falcons started 6-3 in 2024 before collapsing altogether and missing the postseason by one game. Atlanta even benched Cousins for Penix Jr., and he will start Week 1 of 2025, not Cousins.
The 36-year-old also elaborated on his health: “I’m no good to the Falcons, I’m no good to a team, if I’m not feeling really good. That’s really where my focus has been through January and February now that the season has wound down, really taking all the time I can to get my body feeling really good.”
If Atlanta cuts or trades Cousins — that’s the expectation — his next team will onboard him for cheap. The deal will resemble Russell Wilson’s last year in Pittsburgh.
“We were 6-3, was playing well, doing a lot of good things, even if the right ankle wasn’t perfect. Nobody’s perfect in this league. We’re never feeling 100 percent. So it didn’t really affect me too much, but then against the Saints [in Week 10], I got hit pretty good in my right shoulder and elbow. From there, kinda dealing with that, it was something I was working through. Just never could get it really to where I wanted it,” Cousins said, glancing back at 2024 and his health.
On the Miami angle, the Dolphins could sign Cousins for a small contract and hedge the bet against Tagovailoa, who is quite injury-prone. That’s the working theory, anyway.
Otherwise, the Cleveland Browns seem like the common sense landing spot for Cousins, as Kevin Stefanski is the head coach there, and he and Cousins crossed paths as Vikings employees in 2018 and 2019. Cleveland will be without Deshaun Watson in 2025 after a torn Achilles reaggravation.
It’s probably more likely that Cousins becomes a Brown than a Dolphin, although Orr’s bold prediction is intriguing.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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