The Minnesota Vikings and the New York Jets continue to share a tangled fate at the quarterback position.
Previously a Vikings draft target, Justin Fields exited Thursday’s training camp practice with a toe injury that is considered day-to-day. While the former first-round pick was the favorite to take the Jets’ starting job, his injury is going to put him behind in the ball in learning the offense.
While Tyrod Taylor can help facilitate camp for now, the Jets need a viable backup plan for Fields, who has yet to play a full season in the NFL and has dealt with durability concerns throughout his career.
After the Jets nearly signed him back in 2018, Kirk Cousins could be the answer.
Formerly with the Vikings for six seasons, Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons. After struggling in Atlanta, Cousins was benched for Michael Penix Jr., who is the presumed starter for the Falcons this year.
Cousins carries a $40 million cap hit for this season, but his base salary, which would be all a potential trade suitor would take on, is just $27.5 million this season. The Jets have approximately $29.8 million in cap space and could afford to take on Cousins’ contract, which would provide some more stability in coach Aaron Glenn’s first season as head coach.
Before his 2023 ACL injury, Cousins was an iron man at the quarterback position who brought consistency and stability to Minnesota, missing just one of 89 games to injury or illness en route to three Pro Bowl nods with the Vikings.
Kirk Cousins Spurned the Jets for the Vikings As a Prime Free Agent
For New York, Cousins was the one that got away back when he was a prime free agent in 2018.
The prized quarterback free agent in 2018, Cousins was weighing offers from the Vikings and the Jets, the latter of which offered him a three-year, $90 million deal fully guaranteed — the first fully guaranteed deal in league history.
Cousins opted to take slightly less for a better situation in Minnesota, which had just gone to the NFC title game that winter. He signed on for a three-year, $84 million deal with the Vikings.
Coincidentally, Cousins’ decision is what led the Jets to land Sam Darnold in the following year’s draft.
While both quarterbacks found the Vikings to be tremendous platforms to launch their careers, New York has yet to elevate a quarterback of its own.
Cousins Gets Brutally Honest About Leaving Vikings for Falcons After 2024 Season
No pick of the 2024 NFL Draft was more shocking than the Falcons selecting Penix at No. 8 overall after they had just signed Cousins to a massive contract a month earlier.
Cousins admitted he felt “misled” by the Falcons on Netflix’s second season of the “Quarterback” docuseries.
“Certainly, if I had the information around free agency, it certainly would’ve affected my decision,” Cousins said, per ESPN. “I had no reason to leave Minnesota with how much we loved it there if both teams are going to be drafting a quarterback high. But I’ve also learned in 12 years in this league that you’re not entitled to anything. It’s all about being able to earn your spot and prove yourself.”
When Cousins signed with the Falcons, he did so under the impression he had a long-term future in Atlanta. The Vikings told him they intended to select a quarterback in the draft.
Had he known the Falcons’ intentions, there’s the possibility he would have stayed in Minnesota and signed a cheaper deal to be a veteran mentor to J.J. McCarthy.
