Denver Broncos: Analyzing quarterback options for 2022 and beyond
Denver Broncos 2022 QB options: Pros and Cons
4. Kirk Cousins
Kirk Cousins is another quarterback I can see becoming available next offseason.
There hasn’t been much smoke around a potential Kirk Cousins trade, but I think the writing is on the wall.
Cousins was brought in to Minnesota in 2018 after the Vikings got their you know what kicked in the NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Cousins was seen as the guy who could put them over the edge. He was seen as an upgrade from Case Keenum.
He is definitely an upgrade, but the team has not seen the success they had hoped for.
The Vikings recently drafted Kellen Mond as well, so perhaps they think he can be the actual franchise guy for them.
In my opinion, if the Vikings can’t make the playoffs this season, they will look to enter a rebuild, with Kirk Cousins being one of the first to go.
I’m pretty confident in this assessment because his contract is very movable–the Vikings would only incur $10 million in dead money and save $35 million against the cap from trading Cousins in the 2022 offseason.
For a team that may look to rebuild, that’s exactly what they would need–cap space, and the trade package they would get for Cousins.
Cousins does have a lot of good to him. As I said, he’s very efficient and consistent. He’s passed for at least 25 touchdowns in every year he’s been the full starter, and actually has the third-highest completion percentage in NFL history.
His career passer rating also ranks 6th in NFL history.
You know what you’re going to get with Kirk Cousins as a passer, and would bring stability to the quarterback position.
His cons perhaps outweigh his pros though.
One of the few knocks on Cousins is that he isn’t good when it matters most, he doesn’t have the “it” factor or some variation of this.
No one has ever considered Cousins to be an elite or even a great quarterback. He tends to play worse under the spotlight and has a losing record for his career.
He hasn’t ever been seen as a guy who can will a team to victory–he’s just, to many, a “guy”.
To some, he’s just an average quarterback. And they might be correct.
Cousins doesn’t exactly excite a lot of people. Yeah, he’s put up good numbers his whole career, but what else?
He has one career playoff victory, and I don’t know if he would fare any better in the AFC West.
There could be another quarterback or two available for trade next offseason, though.
Matt Ryan is another name that could pop up, but his contract situation makes it tough.
Jimmy Garoppolo could be an option as well.
I don’t think the Denver Broncos would seriously pursue either, as both players have limitations that would hamper the Broncos ability to compete in the stacked AFC.