It’s not often you see a blockbuster deal in the NFL, especially in January, but we got just that on Tuesday night when the Kansas City Chiefs sent veteran quarterback Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins for a third-round pick and cornerback Kendall Fuller.
The deal spells the end for Kirk Cousins in Washington as it is clear now that the team will not put the franchise tag on him for a third-consecutive year and instead let him walk in free agency.
Once slated to be the backup to Robert Griffin III, Cousins developed into one of the better pure passers in the league, putting up over 4,000 yards in each of his three seasons as Washington’s starter. He had his finest season in 2016, passing for 4,917 yards with 25 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Regardless of Cousins’ numbers, the Redskins never really seemed committed to the passer despite him holding three of the top-four passing seasons in franchise history.
As expected, Cousins now becomes the most coveted quarterback on the market where the league will see a quarterback in his prime become the subject of a bidding war between plenty of suitors.
Bovada didn’t waste any time getting in on this action as they released their odds as to who would sign Cousins.
The current favorite to land him? The New York Jets at 8/5.
Gang Green has been in need of a franchise quarterback for years and Cousins would provide just that for an organization that rolled out Josh McCown as their starter last year. No disrespect for McCown though, who performed admirably during his age 38 season on an offense that was expected to do nothing on paper.
In Jets franchise history, the team has had just one season in which a quarterback passed for over 4,000 yards, which was Joe Namath in 1967. It’s pretty clear the kind of shot in the arm Cousins could give this franchise.
The 30-year-old would immediately give the Jets’ offense legitimacy and the second-best quarterback in the AFC East behind Tom Brady of the New England Patriots. It also allows the team to focus on other positions of need in the upcoming NFL draft. With the sixth-overall pick, the Jets could draft an upgrade along the offensive line or at wide receiver or cornerback.
According to Spotrac, they have plenty of cash to flash in order to attain Cousins’ services should this get into a Texas-style shootout with $77.6 million in cap space.
