{"id":754497,"date":"2026-02-15T19:55:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T19:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/754497\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T19:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T19:55:13","slug":"jets-could-resurrect-atlanta-falcons-qb-kirk-cousins-career-if-he-becomes-available-former-nfl-gm-mike-tannenbaum-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/754497\/","title":{"rendered":"Jets could \u2018resurrect\u2019 Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousin’s career if he becomes available, former NFL GM Mike Tannenbaum says"},"content":{"rendered":"

As speculation grows that Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins<\/a> could be released this offseason, former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum<\/a> is making the case for the Jets to pursue the veteran.<\/p>\n

Tannenbaum was a guest on ESPN\u2019s \u201cFirst Take\u201d<\/a> on Friday and gave his reasoning why the two teams would be a match.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s somebody that even at 38 years old, another year off of an Achilles injury, and believe it or not, a place where I think it makes a lot of sense is the New York Jets,\u201d Tannenbaum said.<\/p>\n

Tannenbaum pointed to the Jets\u2019 offensive line, primarily offensive tackles Olu Fashanu and Armand Membou, as reasons that Cousins would feel comfortable, with the two protecting him. Tannenbaum also noted Cousins would have weapons in wide receiver Garrett Wilson<\/a>, tight end Mason Taylor, and running back Breece Hall<\/a>. Hall would need to be re-signed or franchise tagged by the Jets.<\/p>\n

Tannenbaum said those players, along with Frank Reich<\/a> being named the new offensive coordinator, could be enticing for the veteran quarterback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying they\u2019re going to the Super Bowl with Kirk Cousins,\u201d Tannenbaum said. \u201cI think Kirk Cousins could resurrect his career and be productive for the Jets, given the fact that they have a really good offensive line and young skilled players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cousins entered last season as a backup to Michael Penix Jr. but took over as the starter in Week 11 after Penix suffered a season-ending knee injury. Cousins finished the season completing 61.7% of his passes for 1,721 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.<\/p>\n

With two years on his contract and salary cap hits <\/a>of $24.6 million in 2026 and $90.4 million in 2027, the Falcons are expected to cut him, according to NFL Network\u2019s Mike Garafolo<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The Jets have significant draft capital for roster building, possessing seven draft picks in the first five rounds of the 2026 draft, including two first-round selections and two second-round picks. However, Garafolo said it is not out of the question that Cousins heads back to the Falcons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As speculation grows that Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins could be released this offseason, former Jets general manager…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2074],"tags":[75818,223,254,2554,224,7,6,31185],"class_list":["post-754497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-atlanta-falcons","tag-a1c04519","tag-atlanta","tag-atlanta-falcons","tag-atlantafalcons","tag-falcons","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-nflraw25"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116076408013417976","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754497","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=754497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754497\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}