Another moon landing is happening in fantasy football as Kirk Cousins signs a 4-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons.
Kirk Cousins is heading to the Atlanta Falcons on a 4-year $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed. The 35-year-old veteran is heading into his 13th season looking to pick up from the fantasy goodness he provided in 2023 before tearing his Achilles to end his season.
Like Minnesota, Kirk will have the luxury of at least 9 dome games a year with the Falcons. Road games in Chicago and Green Bay are being traded for yearly contests in Charlotte and Tampa Bay. The 7 win Falcons missed the division crown by 2 games, a gap that Kirk Cousins will aim to fill.
Kirk Cousins will have an embarrassment of riches with skill position players. Bijan Robinson’s skillset pairs perfectly with Cousins whose lack of rushing will allow a plethora of dump off passes and screens. Cousins revived T.J. Hockenson’s career, and you can fully expect a healthy Kyle Pitts to breakout. T.J. Hockenson was the TE 2 in PPR for fantasy football in 2022 and has been number 2 in TE targets the last 2 seasons. After helping make Justin Jefferson the 1.01 in fantasy football, Kirk Cousins will boost Drake London to close the gap of his not so nice 69 catches on 109 targets.
The versatility of a Zac Robinson offense will ensure the Atlanta Falcons are firing on all cylinders. Kirk Cousins is QB 24 on KeepTradeCut and 21st in our Dynasty QB ranks on PlayerProfiler. When completing stacks on UnderDog, Kirk Cousins goes as the 20th QB off the board at an ADP of 136 in the 11th round. Fantasy gamers should have the same amount of bullishness for Atlanta Falcons players as there was for the Minnesota Vikings last year, if not more!
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An MRI confirmed Kirk Cousins suffered a torn Achilles against the Packers in week 8, ending his 2023 season.
While there have been plenty of devastating injuries this season, Kirk Cousins suffering a torn Achilles in week 8 is the single most impactful injury that has occurred in 2023 from a Fantasy Football perspective. Kirk Cousins immediately becomes droppable in all redraft formats, and his future as a Viking remains unclear with him set to hit free agency after this season. This news also means a significant hit to the season-long fantasy values and expected production of all Vikings pass catchers.
The Vikings are expected to turn to Jaren Hall and Nick Mullins, the other 2 active QBs on their roster, to replace Cousins. It will be no surprise if the Vikings make a massive push before the trade deadline tomorrow to acquire another veteran QB, or end up signing an available free agent. Regardless, there is no plausible scenario where the Vikings can replace the production of Cousins.
For T.J. Hockenson, he now falls into mid-TE1 territory instead of a weekly top 3 option. Jordan Addison gets downgraded from a high-end WR2 to a risky flex option until Justin Jefferson returns. All other Vikings pass catchers should be avoided for now, and Justin Jefferson’s production is expected to take a significant hit once he returns from IR.
Minnesota Vikings All-World WR Justin Jefferson will miss at least the next 4 games after being placed on Injured Reserve with a hamstring injury.
The Minnesota Vikings are in shambles after starting the year 1-4 and then losing arguably the best non-quarterback in the NFL. Jefferson will miss games @ Chicago, vs San Francisco, @ Green Bay, and @ Atlanta before having a chance to return against the New Orleans Saints in Week 10. Justin Jefferson hadn’t missed a game to this point of his career and led the NFL with 543 yards entering Week 5.
With Justin Jefferson out, expect to see rookie Jordan Addison leapfrog Minnesota’s current WR2, K.J. Osborn, to battle it out with tight end T.J. Hockenson to be the team’s leader in targets. Without the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, the Vikings could be looking at a 1-7 or 2-6 record ahead of the NFL’s trade deadline on October 31st. With the Vikings staring down the barrel of a lost season, the rumors of a Kirk Cousins trade will only grow louder with every loss. Cousins is joined by EDGE Danielle Hunter, Left Guard Era Cleveland, and WR K.J. Osborn as 2024 free agents who will hear their names involved in trade talks.
T.J. Hockenson has signed a contract extension with the Minnesota Vikings.
T.J. Hockenson has signed a contract extension with the Minnesota Vikings. The deal is reportedly a 4-year/$68.5 million contract that will make him one of the highest-paid tight ends in the league. Hockenson was traded to the Minnesota Vikings during the 2022 regular season in exchange for a package of draft picks. He quickly ingratiated himself into the offense and was No. 3 in fantasy points per game following his trade.
This deal was expected, given that the Vikings invested significant draft capital to acquire him. Regardless, this secures his position in one of the highest-volume passing offenses for the foreseeable future. Despite the presence of other notable options, Hockenson will continue to receive enough targets to potentially finish as the highest-scoring tight end not named Travis Kelce.
The hope at this point is that Hockenson will return to practice sooner rather than later. He missed most of training camp while this contract was being negotiated due to back stiffness and an ear infection. However, the Vikings have expressed their belief that Hockenson is not in danger of missing week one. Fantasy managers can confidently start him as a top 5 fantasy tight end right out of the gate barring any setbacks.
