If Jets want to save their season, there’s one QB who gives them a chance

Cousins actually leads the league in passing yards (1,075) and touchdowns (nine), and he ranks third in passer rating (108.2) and eighth in completion percentage (69.6). Given Zach Wilson’s performance through the first three weeks — 52.4 completion percentage, 155 pass yards per game, two touchdowns, four interceptions — the Jets could surely use a player like Cousins.

The Vikings run game has been a disaster (199 yards through three games, four yards per carry average) after cutting four-time Pro Bowler Dalvin Cook during the offseason, and even with Cousins and receiver Justin Jefferson, who leads the NFL in yards and is second in receptions, both playing at an All-Pro level, the team still can’t buy a win.

Cousins is in the final year of his deal with Minnesota, and the team has given no indication it plans to extend him after 2023. So why not trade him to a QB-needy team (like the Jets), recoup any draft capital it can, see what it has in rookie Jaren Hall and turn its attention to landing one of the 2024 draft’s top QB prospects like Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Quinn Ewers, Michael Penix Jr. or Bo Nix?

The deal works out for the Jets as well. There’s no long-term commitment to Cousins beyond the final 14 games of this season, and they get a Pro Bowl-caliber passer that can make use of the talented playmakers like Garrett Wilson, Allen Lazard, Cook and Breece Hall.

If Aaron Rodgers decides to play in 2024, then New York simply lets Cousins walk. If the four-time MVP decides not to return after suffering a season-ending Achilles injury in Week 1, then the Jets could bring Cousins back on a one- or two-year deal while they look to develop another young passer through the draft.

It’s a win-win for everyone involved.