Kirk Cousins was a free agent last offseason, and the Broncos seemed to have some interest. Did Cousins just prove why Denver should have signed him? Based on how the offseason went for Denver and some of the rumblings, the team could have done in a number of directions with their QB room.
Check out this offseason blurb from Albert Breer:
"The Broncos and GM George Paton had also touched base with McCartney, letting him know that, while the team was a little hamstrung cap-wise, he and Sean Payton liked Cousins a lot, and would be interested if the market changed a bit."Albert Breer
Very interesting indeed. While Cousins ultimately signed with the Atlanta Falcons on a four-year, $180 million deal, the Broncos did take a better long-term approach with the QB room by cutting Russell Wilson and drafting Bo Nix at pick 12 in the 2024 NFL Draft. The team is now four games into the Bo Nix tenure and sit at 2-2.
With four winnable games over the next month for Denver, this team could really take a huge step forward. But if you watched Thursday Night Football, you may have seen Falcons' QB Kirk Cousins absolutely terrorize the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' defense. Cousins went 42/58 for 509 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception.
Cousins managed to squeeze two games worth of production into one. He broke Matt Ryan's all-time single-game passing yardage total and was able to help secure the win in overtime for Atlanta. On the season, Kirk Cousins has thrown eight touchdowns, five interceptions, 1.373 yards and has earned a 93.7 passer rating.
Should the Denver Broncos have made a bigger push for Kirk Cousins? Well, perhaps. The current team's GM, George Paton, was in the Minnesota Vikings' front office in 2018 when Cousins signed with them, so Paton has a lot of familiarity with Cousins and his agent.
If Denver was seeking a quick turnaround from the Russell Wilson era, I guess they could have made the move. With how much Sean Payton surely wants to win, the front office had to have some degree of interest and maybe even had a contract offer in mind for Cousins. He was able to get $45 million per year from the Falcons, which was likely way out of the Broncos' price range.
My own guess here is that if Cousins could have been signed for less than $40 million per season, Denver would have gotten in on the fun. It's probably great that they didn't sign the player, but by not doing so, you bring in some uncertainty with a rookie QB. Cousins is a proven player in the NFL and most definitely would have been able to run the offense like Sean Payton wants.
Payton was also able to win a ton of games with a QB aging into his 30s. Cousins is in his age-36 season in the NFL, and Payton's former QB, Drew Brees, was in his age-36 season in 2015. From 2015 through the rest of Brees' career, he threw for 175 touchdowns, 49 interceptions, and a whopping 24,325 yards. Brees did this in 85 games.
I'm sure Sean Payton considered what he was able to do with a late-career Drew Brees and knew he'd be able to work with Cousins, who is a better athlete and who has a better arm than Brees did. Did the Denver Broncos make a mistake not signinig Kirk Cousins?