Kirk Cousins, Falcons
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Quarterback Kirk Cousins, formerly of the Atlanta Falcons.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins will not be playing for the Minnesota Vikings next season, despite that potential outcome getting plenty of attention over the past few months, but he will be suiting up somewhere.
Despite Cousins’ age — he turns 38 years old just a few weeks ahead of Week 1 — he remains a borderline starting quarterback in the NFL. Cousins proved that last season, appearing in 10 contests and starting eight of them (5-3) for the Atlanta Falcons.
The offseason QB carousel has mostly come to a stop, though it is not complete. A team like the Pittsburgh Steelers could be in the market for a starter, depending on what Aaron Rodgers decides to do via his looming retirement. The Las Vegas Raiders may also want a placeholder to start after they presumably select Fernando Mendoza of Indiana No. 1 overall in next month’s draft.
The larger point is that Cousins may or may not get a starting opportunity right away in 2026. However, if he wants to play, he will catch on somewhere as either a QB1 or QB2. And on Wednesday, March 25 he made his intentions in that regard completely clear during an interview with former NFL head coach Jon Gruden that aired on YouTube.
I think getting away from the Achilles tear over two years now, I feel rejuvenated. Getting to play last year at the end, going 4-0 down the stretch, put the wind in my sails again. I feel really good. Probably the healthiest I’ve been in awhile.
So I don’t know where it’ll be. I don’t know under what circumstances. But I like the idea of getting back next year and playing. We’ll see, but I’d like to get back out there and give it another shot.
Vikings’ Signing of Kyler Murray Shut Down Possibility of Kirk Cousins Reunion
Minnesota Vikings, Kyler Murray
GettyFormer Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray.
A reunion with Minnesota was a legitimate possibility until the notion of a trade market for former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray crumbled in the weeks leading up to free agency.
When it became clear no team was going to trade for Murray’s contract, the Cardinals decided they would cut him and pay the more than $36 million owed Murray to play elsewhere in 2026. That put a 29-year-old QB with a two-time Pro Bowl resumé on the market for Minnesota at the lowest cost possible — a $1.3 million veterans league minimum and no trade asset package required.
Murray signed with the Vikings quickly and put to rest any notion that Cousins might return. He potentially could have in the role that Carson Wentz took, which might be QB2 behind Murray, but could be QB3 behind Murray and JJ McCarthy.
But Cousins, by his own admission, is looking for a starting opportunity, and that no longer really exists with the Vikings at this point.
Aaron Rodgers Will Have Major Sway Over Where Kirk Cousins Ends Up in 2026
Aaron Rodgers Mike McCarthy
GettyFormer Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The most logical landing spot for Cousins remains the Steelers, though that outcome is entirely contingent on what Rodgers decides with regards to retirement.
Heading into his age-43 campaign in 2026, Rodgers led Pittsburgh to a 10-7 record, the AFC North Division title and a playoff appearance last season. Former head coach Mike Tomlin subsequently stepped down, but the Steelers replaced him with Mike McCarthy, for whom Rodgers played across 13 seasons between 2006-18 when both were with the Green Bay Packers.
McCarthy and Rodgers have each discussed publicly, and in a positive context, the possibility of reuniting as they near the end of their respective NFL careers. But Rodgers has also made it clear that he is in no rush to make a decision, and Pittsburgh appears destined for the same holding pattern in which it found itself last offseason with regards to Rodgers’ choice on whether to return to the field or not.
The Steelers are a better fit for Cousins than the Raiders in that Pittsburgh is more prepared to win now than Las Vegas and can also offer Cousins a potential QB1 runway beyond just the 2026 campaign, should he prove himself still capable. That won’t matter in the desert, where the Raiders will be incentivized to get Mendoza on the field as soon as he’s ready to play.