Rams target QB with more NFL earnings than Tom Brady as Sean McVay makes plea amid Packers interest

Sean McVay has sent a public plea to Kirk Cousins to join the Los Angeles Rams.

The 37-year-old quarterback is currently a free agent after being released by the Atlanta Falcons at the start of the new NFL year.

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Cousins, who has earned $331 million in his 14-year pro football career, more than NFL legend Tom Brady ($317m), started eight games in the 2025 season as the backup to Michael Penix Jr. after the young signal caller tore his ACL in Week 11.

As Cousins continues to weigh up where his future lies – with a TV career seemingly waiting for him when he does inevitably decide to hang up his cleats for good – the Rams head coach has opened the door for the veteran quarterback to come to Los Angeles.

Of course, the two have history together when McVay was the Washington Redskins’ offensive coordinator and Cousins was a young up-and-coming signal caller who had been handed the starting reins for the first time after three years as a backup.

McVay mentioned wanting to have Jimmy Garoppolo back on the club, but if it’s not Garoppolo, potentially pivoting to fellow free agent Kirk Cousins.

“I’ll tell you what meant a lot about Kirk and I’s relationship. It coincided with his first opportunity to really start full time was when I first got an opportunity to call plays,” McVay told ESPN NFL Live on Monday.

“Jay Gruden giving me a chance as an OC [offensive coordinator] and putting his arm around me and helping me grow. Kirk and I experienced a lot of first things together.

“So there was a real foundational relationship. His success, and really the success that we were able to have as a team was instrumental in getting an opportunity to get to LA. So I’m forever indebted to him.

“Kirk was awesome. He’s played at a high level. He’s a starting quarterback in this league. It’s just a matter of what’s he looking for, what the situation is and if there is some interest in us, Kirk, come see us man. I would love to have you.”

In McVay’s final season in Washington, Cousins earned the first of four Pro Bowl nods.

A decade on, and McVay is hoping he can reunite with his former quarterback to be the QB2 behind reigning MVP Matthew Stafford, but acknowledges that things are not just that easy.

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“It’s really premature,” McVay said via the Rams’ website. “I know Kirk has some other options and opportunities as well, but he’s a guy that I have familiarity with, history and a lot of reverence for because of the gratitude from our experiences together.”

Through 15 NFL seasons, Cousins has completed 66.7 percent of his passing for 44,700 passing yards and 298 passing touchdowns to just 131 interceptions.

Cousins’ demand is growing

But the Rams aren’t the only team linked to Cousins with the Las Vegas Raiders also having reportedly shown interest in bringing the veteran signal caller in to serve as a mentor to projected No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza.

Interest from the Green Bay Packers has also surfaced in recent weeks as they search for additional depth in the QB room behind Jordan Love following Malik Willis’ departure to the Miami Dolphins in free agency.

At the NFL’s Annual League Meeting on Monday, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst confirmed that the team’s interest in Cousins is concrete.

“Yeah, we’ve discussed a lot of those options,” Gutekunst said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “Obviously that’s a guy who’s got a lot of pelts on the wall in this league, so we’ve certainly discussed all those kind of things.”

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Like that of McVay, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur has ties to Cousins from their time in Washington, with him serving as the team’s quarterbacks coach in 2012 and 2013.

As it stands, the Packers have Desmond Ridder and Kyle McCord behind Love on the depth chart, but with the 27-year-old having missed some time in each of the last two seasons, the Pack will be hopeful of bringing in a veteran with more proven experience.

Cousins fits that mold perfectly.

McVay, Rams not concerned about Stafford’s future

As for the Rams, it’s clear reigning MVP Matthew Stafford can’t go on forever, but that’s not something McVay or the Rams are thinking about right now.

“I don’t think about that, ever,” McVay joked. “No, you think about it short- and long-term. And here’s the thing, he’s earned the right to be on a year-to-year basis. If he told me that he wanted to play a couple more years, I’d believe him. If he told me it’s one more year — but he’s earned that right. So, we understand that.

“I do think he’s in a situation where it wouldn’t shock me if he played more than one year. But we also have to be prepared, that if this is the last year, what does that look like?”

“We’ve had a lot of good discussions and dialogue,” McVay said. “And you know what, it’s really along the lines of, what do you and Kelly [Stafford, Matthew’s wife] really want? Does that look like, hey, are we going to keep that kind of year in place? Do we do anything additional? Or do we put two years in place? So, he’s working through that.

“But it’s been a lot smoother than last year, to say the least.”

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