Cousins Rumors: Broncos, Bills, Jags, Cards

While this stance didn’t come during an actual interview, Kirk Cousins let it be known he would enjoy being courted by the Broncos. The seventh-year quarterback said in passing during Super Bowl week (via Mike Klis of 9News) he would “love it” if Denver shows interest. This figures to be the case, with the Broncos being mentioned as a prime Cousins candidate. Bovada lists the Broncos as the favorites to land Cousins, with the Jets running second early in the pursuit (Twitter link, via Klis). It’s not certain either of these teams will pursue the 29-year-old passer, but it seems likely. These teams hold picks five and six in the draft, so the loser — should this race come down to Denver or New York — would be very much in play for one of the rookie quarterbacks expected to go in the top 10.

Here’s the latest from the Cousins market.

• Bovada lists the Jaguars well in the darkhorse group for Cousins. Despite the team almost certainly standing to upgrade with Cousins, Blake Bortles looks like Jacksonville’s quarterback in 2018. The Jaguars’ decision to put off the fifth-year player’s wrist surgery until late January of this year, when it could have been scheduled during the 2017 offseason, looks to have the parties stuck together. Bortles must pass a physical for the Jags to be free of his $19MM fifth-year option, and NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal writes this surgery “all but guarantees” Bortles will be on the Jags’ roster next season.
• The Jags made their Bortles decision before it was a certainty Cousins would be available, and if he were to be able to pass a physical, Mike DiRocco of ESPN.com writes the team could afford the six-year Redskins quarterback. Cuts of Allen Hurns and Chris Ivory would create more than $10MM in cap space, and a Bortles release would free up $19MM more. Adding nearly $30MM to the Jags’ current uncommitted cap portion ($16.9MM) would give them plenty of ammo for this pursuit — even if it lags well behind the Jets’ or Browns’ offseason allotments.
• Coming off a playoff berth themselves, the Bills could afford Cousins’ potentially historic price tag, but Brandon Beane‘s draft-heavy mission statement upon taking the GM job may make a contract of this magnitude unrealistic, Mike Rodak of ESPN.com writes. In taking the Buffalo job in May, Beane said he would build through the draft and added, “You’re not going to see big splashes of free agency.” Any Cousins deal would qualify as one of the biggest splashes in free agency history, so the Bills might not be serious buyers.
• With less than $10MM in current projected cap space, the Cardinals would have to rearrange their payroll more than any other top suitor to chase Cousins. And after back-to-back playoff absences, Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap writes the Cards’ realistic contention window is likely closed with this nucleus. He adds that even if the Cardinals are committed to keeping this core together for another run at a 2015-like season, Sam Bradford or another bridge quarterback would make more sense than a long-term Cousins commitment.
• The Redskins‘ previous trades for veteran quarterbacks did not produce what the franchise envisioned, John Keim of ESPN.com writes. Although Brad Johnson (acquired for first-, second- and third-round picks in 1999) and Mark Brunell (via third-rounder in 2004) elevated Washington to the divisional round on one occasion apiece, matching Washington’s best playoff showings since its 1991 Super Bowl title, they did not provide long-term stability. The team’s Donovan McNabb trade (for second- and fourth-round picks) in 2010 was the least successful of these maneuvers.