5 veteran QBs to consider if Cleveland Browns pull plug on Baker Mayfield
By Cory Kinnan
5. Kirk Cousins
The least fun and most likely option is current Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback Kirk Cousins, who may be playing his way out of town. For the Vikings to find a suitor, they would likely have to find a suedo-Brock Osweiler trade like the Browns executed back in 2017 where the Texans were forced to part ways with a second round pick just to unload his contract.
However, if the Browns were able to pull this type of deal off then restructure the deal of Cousins, then perhaps they would not have the worst bridge quarterback in the world. However, when discussing Cousins it has to be mentioned: is acquiring the Minnesota quarterback even an upgrade from Mayfield? Quite obviously, yes.
Since he became a starter last season, Ryan Tannehill is No. 2 in CPOE, No. 2 in EPA/play, and No. 1 in EPA + CPOE composite pic.twitter.com/UtXKjcC8t7
— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) October 19, 2020
In both CPOE (completion percentage above expected) and EPA (expected points added), Cousins dwarfs the efficiency of Mayfield. Cousins may have struggled early on, but he has started to put it together for the Vikings; he just needs to stop throwing the football to the other team (similar to that of Mayfield).
However, there is one thing that would be obviously clear if the Cleveland quarterback were to be Cousins in 2021: he would not handicap the offense, shows exponentially more poise, and still knows the Stefanski offense better than Mayfield does today. Would it be the optimal choice? No, but Cousins would still be able to come in and operate the Cleveland offense with a high level of efficiency.