Jets Predicted To Make Shocking Blockbuster Trade for $180 Million QB

The New York Jets are rolling the dice by starting Justin Fields at quarterback in 2025.

Fields was a first-round pick in 2021, the same year the Jets selected Zach Wilson second overall. But while Fields has looked marginally better than Wilson, an all-time New York draft bust, he has yet to prove himself as a reliable NFL starter.

Still, New York saw enough in Fields' six starts with the Pittsburgh Steelers to take a shot on him. But his two-year, $40 million contract will be easy to swallow if they ever decide he's not the right man for the job.

One NFL writer thinks Fields will struggle enough for the Jets to make a change in the middle of the season.

On Wednesday, Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon predicted that the Jets would trade for Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, who is entering year two of a four-year, $180 million contract, before the Nov. 4 trade deadline.

"Any contender that loses its QB to an injury could be in on (Cousins), despite the high price tag," Gagnon wrote. "Since it's impossible to speculate on injuries, though, let's instead throw out a Jets team that has a considerable amount of salary-cap space and could well give up on Justin Fields by November.

"The Jets also employ senior football advisor Rick Spielman, who is connected to Cousins from their shared time in Minnesota. If the increasingly desperate Jets are competitive in spite of Fields at that stage, dealing for an established veteran from the NFC could make some sense."

This would be a fairly stunning move. Cousins is a four-time Pro Bowler with more starts under his belt than anyone else the Jets could plausibly pursue. But he's also turning 37 in August. He didn't look like his old self when he returned from a torn Achilles in 2024. And he enters the season as a projected backup behind Michael Penix Jr. in Atlanta.

Trading for Cousins would be the ultimate gamble for a Jets team that's desperate to taste playoff football for the first time in 15 years. In five months, we could be talking about this possibility every day, or we may have long since forgotten it was ever discussed.