NFL 2026: Kirk Cousins’ Next Team – Odds and Predictions

• NFL oddsmakers are speculating on Kirk Cousins’ next team now that the Falcons are set to release him on March 11
• Cousins will be 38 by Week 1 in the 2026 NFL season
• He played in 8 games in 2025 when Michael Penix got injured and was reasonably effective, leading Atlanta to a 5-3 record, 10 TDs, 5 picks, and an 84.8 passer rating
• Up to 8 teams could use him in 2026, potentially as a starter and definitely as a backup
• Where might he wind up?

Kirk Cousins’ Next Team Odds

While injuries can happen between now and when Cousins begins his free agency tour, only realistic destinations are listed.

Minnesota Vikings

Cousins’ decision to leave the Vikings for the Falcons was a mistake almost immediately when Atlanta signed him to a 4-year, $180 million contract and then drafted Michael Penix 8th overall a month-and-a-half later.

A veteran like Cousins had a justifiable expectation that the Falcons were going to use that pick to strengthen his supporting cast.

A wide receiver?

Rome Odunze was drafted by the Bears immediately after the Falcons took Penix.

Help on the O-line?

The Jets took Olumuyiwa Fashanu 11th and the Saints took Taliese Fuaga 14th.

How about a tight end?

Brock Bowers, already a superstar, was taken 13th by the Raiders.

Now that Cousins is set to be a free agent, there could be an opening back in the place he shouldn’t have left in the first place: in Minnesota with the Vikings.

He knows Kevin O’Connell’s offense. He’s still well-liked in the locker room and the community. He’d be perfect for a short-term deal to compete with J.J. McCarthy and would almost assuredly win the starting job, at least in 2026.

The Vikings must-must-must have a competent backup or QB 1A entering the season.

New York Jets

Well, he’d walk into Florham Park as the Jets starter anyway.

The question Cousins needs to ask himself is if he’s so desperate to be the de facto starter that he’ll go to the Jets knowing that they’re in Year 2 of a rebuild and are relying on their accumulated draft picks, an untested GM in Darren Mougey, and a head coach, Aaron Glenn, whose job will likely be in jeopardy if they are as inept in 2026 as they were in 2025.

Does he want to end his career taking a beating?

Pittsburgh Steelers

Regardless of what Aaron Rodgers implies in the moment, it’s best to expect him to drag out any announcement until he recedes into a darkened cave, confers with entities in the mystical realm, indulges in deep meditation, and calculates the wonders of infinity.

If…if…Rodgers does announce whether he’s playing by mid-March, the timing is such that the Steelers and Cousins can come to a quick agreement.

From the team’s perspective, they’re all in to try and win. Hiring Mike McCarthy to replace Mike Tomlin instead of a younger coach who would have made substantive changes suggests that ownership is not prepared to move forward with that transition and accept the likelihood of a couple of underwhelming seasons as it reshapes the roster.

They will have a veteran QB, whether it’s Rodgers or someone else. Cousins would be an acceptable bridge to their long-term solution, whomever that may be.

But this is entirely contingent on Rodgers.

Miami Dolphins

New Dolphins’ GM Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley are cleaning house, having already cut Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb, and other veterans to clear salary cap space and change the culture.

QB Tua Tagovailoa is next.

While it would chafe the Dolphins to be categorized with the Jets, that’s the reality. Even if they bring in some veterans and try to be competitive, does Cousins want to take a thrashing to win, at most, 7 games, even if it’s for a year in Miami?

Cleveland Browns

Parachuting into Cleveland and getting in the middle of the Deshaun Watson-Shedeur Sanders QB competition with the click-hungry media squarely behind Shedeur would be, on the surface, a bad idea.

But the Browns can be a darkhorse playoff team if they maintain their superlative 2025 defense and get competent QB play.

Watson hasn’t played in two years and Shedeur is still a relative unknown as to what his ceiling is.

This would be a last resort if the other options look elsewhere, but it should not be reflexively dismissed.

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals are starting over with new head coach Mike LaFleur. Kyler Murray’s time in Arizona is likely coming to a close. Veteran Jacoby Brissett is a perfectly good backup, but he’s not the starter unless the team plans to tank.

In the NFC West with the Super Bowl champion Seahawks, the Rams, and the 49ers, it’s unreasonable to expect the Cardinals to win more than 5 games in 2026. It’s not a fit for Cousins given the circumstances, but if they want to bring in a young QB with the 3rd overall pick, it’s not completely out of the question to sign a veteran like Cousins to start.

So, Which is Kirk Cousins’ Next Team?

It comes down to whether Rodgers retires and the Steelers suddenly need a QB, and how serious the Vikings are about bringing in true competition for McCarthy.

Cousins only goes to Pittsburgh if Rodgers retires.

In Minnesota, they cannot enter 2026 in the same situation as they did in 2025 with Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer sitting behind McCarthy.

It’s reasonable to say that Cousins’ arm strength is diminished, he’s immobile, and the Achilles injury significantly reduced his ability to get zip on the ball. But the Vikings and O’Connell could game plan to limit the negatives. They know him. He knows them. And he’d have a great chance of starting for them unless McCarthy outright lights it up in training camp.