NY Jets should target Kirk Cousins as a viable Aaron Rodgers replacement after falcons likely to cut him in 2025 says insider

NY Jets should target Kirk Cousins as a viable Aaron Rodgers replacement after falcons likely to cut him in 2025 says insider

The Jets might land Kirk Cousins after all.

The NY Jets will have a decision to make regarding the future of Aaron Rodgers in the coming months.

Rodgers has a chance to make one final impression over the last three weeks as he hopes to convince the Jets to keep him around.

The Rodgers decision is a complex one, and it likely will come down to more than just on-field performance. Finances will play a large role in determining what route the Jets take with their quarterback position in 2025.

If the Jets were to move on from Rodgers this offseason, one new name has emerged as a potential replacement. That player is Kirk Cousins, who was officially benched this week by the Atlanta Falcons.

The expectation is that the Falcons will move on from Cousins in the offseason as they usher in the Michael Penix Jr. era. There’s a scenario in which Cousins actually makes sense for the Jets. Hear me out.

Why Kirk Cousins actually could make sense for the NY Jets
Let’s start with Rodgers and his contract situation. If the Jets opt to keep Rodgers in 2025, he will carry a cap hit of just $23.5 million, which is very reasonable. But the financial ramifications extend well beyond next season.

Rodgers has a $35 million option bonus that triggers if he’s on the Jets’ roster come Week 1 along with a $2.5 million base salary. That option bonus is prorated over the remainder of Rodgers’ contract, which includes void years through 2029.

Unfortunately, since every year after 2025 is a void year, that means the Jets would incur a massive dead cap hit in 2026. That cap hit is $63 million, significantly higher than the $49 million if they were to move on this offseason.

The Jets would have the option of taking the full cap hit of $63 million in 2026 or designating him as a post-June 1st cut and spreading it out between 2026 and 2027 ($21 million in 2026 and $42 million in 2027).

It’s likely the next Jets regime will not be very interested in pushing significant dead money into 2027. Doing so would severely hinder the team’s chances of building a competitive roster in 2026 and 2027 and limit the flexibility of the new regime.

This is why moving on from Rodgers this offseason remains the most logical choice. They have the option of absorbing the full $49 million dead cap hit in 2025 or splitting it between 2025 ($14 million) and 2026 ($35 million). There’s a good chance the new regime would choose the former.

That gives the Jets an opportunity to hit the temporary reset button in 2025 and shift their attention to competing in 2026 and beyond. Unless you’re of the opinion that a Rodgers-led Jets team can legitimately compete for a Super Bowl next season, this would be their best option.