{"id":205470,"date":"2024-12-20T10:30:49","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T15:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=205470"},"modified":"2024-12-19T20:58:57","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T01:58:57","slug":"colts-need-to-say-thanks-but-no-thanks-to-kirk-cousins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/12\/20\/colts-need-to-say-thanks-but-no-thanks-to-kirk-cousins\/","title":{"rendered":"Colts Need to Say Thanks, but No Thanks to Four-Time Pro Bowler"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Atlanta Falcons<\/a> recently benched<\/a> Kirk Cousins in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr. Atlanta could decide to trade Cousins this coming offseason. Chris Rosvoglou of The Spun<\/a> listed the Indianapolis Colts<\/a> as a team that should trade for the four-time Pro-Bowler if he becomes available:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIf the Colts want to acquire a veteran quarterback to hold down the fort, Cousins wouldn’t be a bad option. However, his contract is on the expensive side. In the event that’s not an issue for Indianapolis, fans should consider the Colts as a potential trade suitor,\u201d Chris Rosvoglou wrote.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Colts know a thing or two about acquiring veteran quarterbacks. Since Andrew Luck\u2019s retirement in 2019, the team has landed guys like Philip Rivers (38 years old at the time) and Matt Ryan (36). With that said, it wouldn\u2019t be shocking if Indy pursues the 36-year-old Kirk Cousins. And it\u2019s a possibility if general manager Chris Ballard sticks around. He loves quarterbacks who are nearing retirement.<\/p>\n

The Indianapolis Colts Need to Say Thanks, but No Thanks to Kirk Cousins Trade<\/h2>\n

Glancing Back at His Career<\/h3>\n

Washington<\/a> selected Kirk Cousins in the fourth round (102nd overall pick) of the 2012 NFL Draft. It was a surprising move, seeing that the team had already selected fellow quarterback Robert Griffin III second overall in the same draft.<\/p>\n

However, due to Griffin\u2019s injuries, Cousins eventually became Washington\u2019s full-time starter. He made his first Pro Bowl during the 2016 campaign as he passed for 4,917 yards and 25 touchdowns.<\/p>\n

In 2018, Cousins signed with the Minnesota Vikings<\/a> on a three-year contract worth $84 million<\/a>. The Michigan State product would play six seasons with the Vikings, making the Pro Bowl three times. He then signed a four-year, $180 million<\/a> deal with Atlanta this past offseason.<\/p>\n

Why the Colts Shouldn\u2019t Acquire Cousins<\/h3>\n

So far, Kirk Cousins isn\u2019t living up to his massive contract. He was thrown for only one touchdown and nine interceptions over the last five games.<\/p>\n

Do the Colts even need a new starting quarterback? Well, it depends on who you ask. Some fans and pundits would say \u201cabsolutely yes\u201d while others would say no. The ones who say no believe the team should keep Anthony Richardson<\/a> and let him develop.<\/p>\n

Indianapolis drafted Richardson fourth overall in 2023. Unfortunately, the former Florida Gator has had a disappointing career thus far. His rookie year was limited to only four games due to injury. Then, earlier this season, Richardson was benched briefly in favor of\u00a0Joe Flacco<\/a>. He currently has seven touchdown passes and 11 interceptions<\/span>\u00a0and has completed just 47 percent of his passes this year.<\/p>\n

Yes, 47 percent is downright awful. However, Richardson is only 22 years old. He could still emerge as a solid passer down the road. Add that to his amazing running ability, and he could eventually morph into a superstar for the Colts.<\/p>\n

Sure, Richardson isn\u2019t looking like the next Manning right now. But Indianapolis needs to be patient with the young signal-caller and give him more time to develop. Sometimes it takes a few years to become a star.<\/p>\n

While Kirk Cousins has put together a good career, it wouldn’t be wise for the Colts to pursue him. The Matt Ryan experiment was disastrous and the Cousins Era could go the same way.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: [Kirby Lee] – USA Today Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Indianapolis Colts don\u2019t need to purse quarterback Kirk Cousins, who was recently benched by the Atlanta Falcons. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4890,"featured_media":205631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[54,12],"tags":[9564,56,403],"class_list":["post-205470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","category-colts","tag-anthony-richardson","tag-indianapolis-colts","tag-kirk-cousins"],"modified_by":"Michael Zimmelman","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4890"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205470"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205632,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205470\/revisions\/205632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}