Kirk Cousins Lands in Atlanta in Free Agency, Fantasy Impact

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The Atlanta Falcons continued retooling Monday, agreeing to terms with Kirk Cousins. The veteran quarterback has spent the last six seasons in Minnesota. While Cousins is coming off a torn Achilles and will be 36 this season, his presence is a sizeable upgrade over Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke.

Though not regarded as an elite starter, Cousins has put together a very solid NFL career. He’s topped 4,000 passing yards seven times and has tossed at least 25 touchdown passes in eight of his last nine seasons. Cousins was well on his way to that mark before suffering the Achilles injury in his eighth game last season.

In Atlanta, he’ll work with first-time offensive coordinator Zac Robinson. That’s good for both parties, as Robinson comes from the Sean McVay coaching tree and will run a very similar offense to what Cousins played in under Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota. A relatively seamless transition will help the Falcons’ new coaching regime hit the ground running.

At this point in his career, we generally know what to expect out of Cousins for fantasy purposes. Provided he’s fully healthy, Cousins offers a relatively high fantasy floor, but doesn’t come with the highest ceiling. He’ll continue to be a late-round option in 1QB leagues and a quarterback to target after the first 10-15 signal callers come off the board in superflex.

While his value remains relatively stable, his presence in the offense is very good for the likes of Drake London, Bijan Robinson and Kyle Pitts. Having a capable quarterback in what figures to be a potent scheme has all three of their fantasy arrows pointing up.

However, the same cannot be said for Justin Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson and Jordan Addison. The Vikings currently have Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall on their depth chart (Joshua Dobbs is a free agent). Neither one of those guys is starter material, so the Vikings now have a massive need at quarterback. There are some rumblings that Minnesota could pull off an unlikely trade in their division for Justin Fields. That would be fun, but it’s far from a lock. If it isn’t Fields, Minnesota will have to seriously consider either using the 11th overall pick on a quarterback or trying to move up the board in next month’s draft.