Veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins has been one of the most underrated players in the NFL over the last 10-15 years at the game's most important position. And while he isn't going to provide any team out there with a true long-term solution, he proved late in the 2025 season that he is still capable of starting games for a team in 2026.
Reports indicate the Atlanta Falcons are set to release Cousins at the start of the new league year in March, which means Cousins will join the fray of NFL Free Agency once again in 2026. And he will have multiple suitors with teams having one eye fixed on the 2027 NFL Draft class at the quarterback position.
But there is one destination that makes more sense than the rest, and a significant connection on the coaching staff that could, in a way, bring Cousins's NFL career full-circle.
Dolphins are the most obvious next destination for Kirk Cousins when Falcons cut him
The most obvious next destination for Kirk Cousins once he hits NFL free agency is the Miami Dolphins.
Cousins has long been rumored to be a candidate to sign with one of the Florida teams because of his family connections in that state. Back in his big free agency recruitment in 2018, many felt like the Jaguars would be the team Cousins ended up with because his dad is the pastor of a church in Florida.
And of course, there's the major factor of the Florida teams offering potential free agent acquisitions an income tax-free salary.
Ultimately, we all know Cousins ended up signing with the Vikings and playing tremendously well for them, and he was supposed to help the Atlanta Falcons capitalize on a championship window. That did not go as planned.
Still, Cousins got $100 million in just two seasons with the Falcons, and he should get another nice contract from his next NFL team. So why the Miami Dolphins? This is a rebuilding and reloading team, to say the very least. The Dolphins are not exactly a team that's going to offer Cousins the chance to go win a championship this coming season.
However, they do offer him the chance to finally play in the state of Florida, and they also have a new member of the coaching staff with significant ties to Cousins from early in his NFL career. The Dolphins hired Bobby Slowik to run the offense this offseason after a couple of years with the Houston Texans.
Jeff Hafley has taken over as the new head coach of the Dolphins, and is giving the keys to the offense over to Slowik. Slowik got his start in the NFL as an assistant under Mike Shanahan in Washington, and you know who else came to Washington the same year Slowik got his big break in coaching?
That's right...Kirk Cousins.
Cousins was a 4th-round pick by Washington back in the 2011 NFL Draft, so those two guys effectively have grown up in the NFL together. With the Dolphins all but certain to move on from Tua Tagovailoa this offseason, they could bring in Cousins as a bridge quarterback before making a longer-term decision at the position in 2027.
The job opening, connection to Slowik, proximity to family, and chance for Cousins to be a mentor for Quinn Ewers all add up to the Dolphins being the ideal next landing spot for the veteran QB.