New York Jets: Kirk Cousins’ good, bad and ugly as free agent target

The New York Jets need a quarterback, and with the Redskins recent trade for Alex Smith, the Jets should go after Kirk Cousins during free agency…not so fast.

Fans of the New York Jets are awaiting free agency to see who the Jets go after. Will they get a quarterback, or will Sam Darnold or Josh Rosen fall to them in the 2018 NFL Draft. (Those two are the only ones worth a first round pick, in my opinion.)

The Jets could be players in the free agent market, and now that the Redskins have traded for Alex Smith, the Jets should be one of the suitors for Kirk Cousins and be a part of the bidding way for his services. Hold on.

Let’s get into a full examination of Kirk Cousins before we fall into the trap of “we need a quarterback”, and let’s get the best available guy in free agency.

The Good

Cousins has completed 60-plus-percent of his passes and had 20-plus touchdowns and at least 4,000 yards in each of the last three seasons. Those are some good and eye-popping numbers for a guy selected in the third round of the NFL Draft. However, there’s more than meets the eye here.

The Bad

When you look deeper, his completion percentage has gone down, and his interceptions have gone up in each of the last two seasons. In 2015, Cousins completed 68.9 percent of his passes and had 11 interceptions. In 2016, it was 67 percent and 12 interceptions, and this past season, it was 64.3 percent and 13 interceptions. For Cousins, 2015 was a great year. His touchdown-interception ratio was nearly 3-1. However, in 2017, it was just barely over 2-1.

Next: Kirk Cousins: 7 Landing spots after Smith trade

The Ugly

The red zone has seen diminishing return for Cousins. Since 2015, when Cousins completed 60 percent of his passes for 22 touchdowns and zero interceptions inside the 20-yard line, he’s completed 49 percent of his passes with total of 31 touchdowns and five interceptions on all plays in the red zone. Inside the 10, his completion percentage, completions, yards and touchdowns have all gone down in each of the last two seasons.

You like that?! I don’t think so. Be careful what you wish for, The Jets should avoid Cousins, period.