{"id":736322,"date":"2026-02-07T19:31:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T19:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/736322\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T19:31:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T19:31:10","slug":"should-the-jets-pursue-qb-kirk-cousins-this-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/736322\/","title":{"rendered":"Should the Jets pursue QB Kirk Cousins this offseason?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feb. 7, 2026, 1:19 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

The New York Jets<\/a> will enter the market for a new starting quarterback during the 2026 NFL offseason<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After losing the Fernando Mendoza sweepstakes in the 2026 NFL draft by failing to earn the No. 1 overall selection, the Jets could instead target a veteran quarterback. New offensive coordinator Frank Reich<\/a> will have an opinion on the pursuit for Justin Fields’ successor.<\/p>\n

Atlanta Falcons<\/a> veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins could emerge as an option.<\/p>\n

The Falcons signed Cousins to an ill-advised four-year, $180 million contract in 2024. Now that he’s halfway through that contract and Michael Penix Jr. has established himself as the starter, the veteran signal caller should be made available this offseason.<\/p>\n

Though Reich has never personally coached Cousins, their off-field relationship has been well documented<\/a>. With head coach Aaron Glenn feeling the heat after a lackluster debut 3-14 season, New York will probably pursue a veteran QB who can position them to be more competitive. Cousins checks that box.<\/p>\n

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n

Cousins appeared in 10 games throughout 2024 due to a Penix injury. The experienced quarterback performed admirably, completing 61.7% of his passing attempts while throwing 10 touchdowns and just five interceptions.<\/p>\n

Ironically, Cousins started a late November loss to the Jets.<\/p>\n

Cousins to the Jets makes a ton of sense following Reich’s appointment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 7, 2026, 1:19 p.m. ET The New York Jets will enter the market for a new starting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":736323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[95878,7,226,1917,255,2321,2097,6,97197,97198,95882,96609,102556,97808,97157,96194,95896,96747,95888,95895,95899,95883,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-736322","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-jets","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-jets","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkjets","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-sstssportsnfljets","17":"tag-sstsnjets","18":"tag-tagamerican-football","19":"tag-tagatlanta-falcons","20":"tag-tagfrank-reich","21":"tag-tagjustin-fields","22":"tag-tagkirk-cousins","23":"tag-tagmichael-penix-jr","24":"tag-tagnational-sports","25":"tag-tagnew-york-jets","26":"tag-tagnfl","27":"tag-tagnfl-hub","28":"tag-tagoverall-neutral","29":"tag-tagsports-news","30":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116031015256965617","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=736322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/736323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=736322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=736322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=736322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}