If you are a quarterback entering the free-agent market, you more than likely want to land a starting opportunity. Unfortunately, only 32 of those currently exist in the NFL, and the vast majority of them are not vacant.
Quarterback is the most important position on the field, and it is imperative that it is stabilized heading into a new season.
Kirk Cousins’ Starting Future in Doubt as QB Market Shrinks
For Kirk Cousins, the chance to enter the 2026 campaign as a starting quarterback may have come and gone. At this point, it is either about playing the waiting game or agreeing to become a backup, which would not be the worst outcome for Cousins, who turns 38 years old this August.
A former fourth-round pick, Cousins played six years in Washington, six in Minnesota, and two in Atlanta. He has started at least eight games in a season at every stop, but most notably, he thrived with the Vikings.
Across those six seasons, he threw for 23,265 passing yards and 171 touchdowns to just 55 interceptions, starting 81 of a possible 82 games in his first five seasons with the team.
In 2023, however, he played eight games before sustaining a torn Achilles tendon. Cousins’ stint with the Vikings featured a quarterback at the height of his powers; he finished third on the team’s all-time list for passing yards and second in touchdowns.
He was a shell of that player in Atlanta. The Falcons signed Cousins to a four-year contract worth $180 million one month before spending a top-10 draft pick on Michael Penix Jr. Cousins appeared in 24 games during his tenure with the Falcons, throwing 38 touchdowns and 26 interceptions. He was released by the team at the start of the new league year last Wednesday, March 11.
Whether he can return to form remains to be seen, but the further he moved from his devastating Achilles injury, the better he performed. The only problem with the market for Cousins is that his starting days could be over, barring something unforeseen. The only real vacancies right now are the Las Vegas Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers, as outlined by Sports Illustrated.
The Raiders are the presumed landing spot for Fernando Mendoza, the projected top quarterback in the 2026 NFL Draft and Heisman-winning quarterback from Indiana. The Steelers, meanwhile, are still hanging in limbo waiting on word from Aaron Rodgers about whether he is going to return for what will be his 22nd season. If Rodgers ventures off into the sunset for retirement, that would open a spot that Cousins could potentially fill.
BE AN NFL GM: PFSN’s Ultimate GM Simulator
Do not remove the Raiders from the candidacy list entirely, though. Time and time again, young, highly-touted quarterbacks have entered the league and been thrown to the wolves almost instantly. Some adapt on the fly, while others do not, and that miscalculation could be enough to ruin a career before it even has the chance to get off the ground.
If the Raiders want to take a safe approach, bringing in a veteran such as Cousins to take the reins for a year or two while Mendoza absorbs everything he can from the sideline may not be the worst idea. A marriage makes even greater sense considering Cousins’ familiarity with Klint Kubiak, who was hired as the Raiders’ new head coach earlier this year. When Kubiak was the Vikings’ offensive coordinator in 2021, Cousins had one of his best statistical seasons. He was also Cousins’ position coach for the two years prior.
If these scenarios with the Steelers and Raiders are purely hypothetical, then the best bet for Cousins would be to either latch on somewhere as a backup or to simply wait it out.
If a team loses its quarterback to an injury during the season, that may open the door for Cousins to step in. That is what happened with the Vikings and Carson Wentz in 2025, so there is precedent for it.
