For as evasive as Matt Ryan and Ian Cunningham were about the Atlanta Falcons' quarterback situation during his opening presser, we all know how this is going to shake out. Michael Penix Jr. will return as the starter once he's fully healthy and Kirk Cousins is as good as gone later this offseason.
The only question that has yet to be answered is where Cousins will spend next season. The market has really dried up for the four-time Pro Bowler, but one team seems to be emerging as a top destination: the New York Jets, who hired a new offensive coordinator yesterday in Frank Reich.
The Jets have been stuck in QB purgatory for like what feels like forever (probably because it is), so this feels like a match made in heaven. They desperately need stability under center, and in all honesty, it doesn't get more stable than one of the most experienced starting quarterbacks available who is only being released so the Dirty Birds can cut costs.
Kirk Cousins could be in play for the New York Jets after they hired Frank Reich as their new OC
Reich tends to gravitate towards quarterbacks with strong arms, stand in the pocket, and take hits. Cousins is 6-foot-3, so he definitely isn't short, and given how a 2023 Achilles tear wiped him of any mobility he had left, all he can really do at this stage of his career is deliver strikes from the pocket.
The big red flag with Cousins is that he'll turn 38 in August and his career is on thin ice, but if he carries on, the Jets are a decent situation. They have a solid o-line, an elite WR1 in Garrett Wilson, and if they bring back Breece Hall as expected, the offense could be semi-productive with a solid QB.
Even depth receivers like Adonai Mitchell and John Metchie have shown promise, and Kirk can turn Mason Taylor into the same security blanket Kyle Pitts was down the stretch in Atlanta. I'm not saying the Jets are anywhere close to competing, but they aren't the dumpster fire they're believed to be.
Reich has led successful offenses in the past with Carson Wentz, Jacoby Brissett, and Philip Rivers, which goes to show how much he could do with Cousins. Coincidentally, he also coached Falcons' president of football Matt Ryan in Indianapolis in 2022, and Ryan's flameout got him fired by the Colts.
Reich hasn't been successful in years though, and the Jets really only hired him out of desperation. So if the Michigan State is truly desperate enough to continue his career on one of the most tortured franchises in professional sports, he and Reich could turn out to be a match made in heaven.