As hard as it may be to believe, it's been more than two years now since Kirk Cousins threw his last pass for the Minnesota Vikings, as his last game wearing the purple and gold was on October 29, 2023, when he completed 23 of 31 passes for 274 yards with two touchdowns before rupturing his right Achilles tendon in a 24-10 win over the Green Bay Packers.
The following March, of course, with the Vikings opting to look toward the future, Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons, who then turned around the following month and shocked the world by selecting Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Cousins began the 2024 season as the starter, but was ultimately benched for Penix with three weeks remaining in the regular season. He remained QB2 heading into this 2025 campaign, but has been the starter since Penix went down with a season-ending injury back in Week 11.
The 37-year-old certainly isn't posting numbers Vikings fans became accustomed to seeing over the years, but he has gone 4-3 as a starter this season after leading the Falcons to an upset victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night.
With his ninth touchdown pass of the season in the win, Cousins now has 297 regular-season TD passes for his career. And if he can manage to toss three more in Week 18 against the New Orleans Saints, he'll become just the 15th quarterback in NFL history to hit 300.
Former Minnesota Vikings QB Kirk Cousins can join list of legends with 3 TD passes for Atlanta Falcons in Week 18
Breaking down Cousins' career, the Michigan State alum threw the first 99 touchdown passes of his NFL career with the team now known as the Washington Commanders, who made him the 102nd overall pick of the 2012 draft.
After six seasons with Washington, he then spent the next six seasons with the Vikings, tossing 171 TD passes in 88 regular-season games. And after Monday night, he's now thrown 27 with the Falcons, thus bringing his career total to 297 and putting him within three of this list of legends to reach 300.
- Tom Brady - 649
- Drew Brees - 571
- Peyton Manning - 539
- Aaron Rodgers - 526
- Brett Favre - 508
- Philip Rivers - 425
- Dan Marino - 420
- Matthew Stafford - 419
- Ben Roethlisberger - 418
- Matt Ryan - 381
- Eli Manning - 366
- Russell Wilson - 353
- Fran Tarkenton - 342
- John Elway - 300
Some might not think Cousins can pull this off, but it wasn't that long ago when he turned back the clock a bit and threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns in a Week 15 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So, it's certainly possible, and Skol Nation will undoubtedly be pulling for him.