APRIL 21: The Falcons are aiming for an acquiring team to take on $20MM of Cousins’ remaining guarantees, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. To no surprise, he adds that asking price has not been met and is not expected to at any point this offseason. A more realistic figure could be closer to $10MM, he adds, but of course the willingness of a team to absorb compensation will affect the trade price in terms of draft capital. With Day 3 selections insufficient to work out an agreement, it will be interesting to see if movement occurs on this front in the coming days.
APRIL 19: Kirk Cousins has made it clear that he wants out of Atlanta, but the Falcons aren’t letting him go without some compensation after giving him $90MM in fully-guaranteed money last offseason.
Cousins’ situation has been the subject of much scrutiny this offseason, and he and the team are at odds over the best resolution. Cousins, who has a no-trade clause, would prefer to be released; the Falcons would rather trade him to recoup some draft capital and shed as much of his $27.5MM salary as possible.
A post-draft trade has always made the most sense. Cousins doesn’t want a repeat of the 2024 season with a highly-drafted rookie quarterback breathing down his neck, and a post-June 1 trade would allow Atlanta to spread the dead money across two years.
However, recent comments from Falcons owner Arthur Blank indicate that facilitating a trade won’t be as simple as the team accepting an offer and Cousins waiving his no-trade clause.
“Kirk understands his situation. He understands our own situation. He understands we’ve committed a lot of funds to him,” Blank said at league meetings earlier this month (via CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones). That reflects the Falcons’ primary desire to get Cousins’ salary off the books. If they have to absorb most of his 2025 salary, they’ll need more than just a Day 3 pick to facilitate a deal.
“I told (Cousins) that we will be as thoughtful and sensitive to him as we can be,” continued Blank, “but we have a responsibility to the franchise — which we do.”
But Cousins has a responsibility to himself and his family, too. On the football side, he wants to start without the threat of being replaced during the season. On the personal side, he has two elementary school-aged children who moved three times last year, which will be a “huge consideration” for Cousins to permit a trade later in the year, according to Jones.
This sets up a precarious timeline for the Falcons. It’s hard to see them getting their desired cap relief or draft compensation in a trade unless another team suddenly has a need for a quarterback, which is unlikely to arise until closer to the season when more injuries occur. But if Cousins’ children start another year of school in Atlanta, he may be less inclined to waive his no-trade clause unless he lands in the perfect situation.
Whether or not the Falcons are able to move Cousins, they’re still expected to sign a cheap veteran passer in the coming months, according to Jones. That QB would serve as additional depth during training camp and potentially replace Cousins as Michael Penix‘s backup this season.
Nobody is giving up a third round pick or higher for the corpse of Kirk Cousins
Can we get a poll please? What was worse, Atlanta signing Cousins then drafting his replacement a month or so later. VS Miami making Ramsey the highest paid CB last year, then offering him up for a trade this year?
Cousins because at least the Dolphins are trying to shed that contract.
Falcons hands down. But I keep telling people falcons had zero clue if Penix would be available in March
Pretty sure only Atlanta was confused on Penix being available at 8th overall.
So far we have their training staff unaware that Cousins was “supposed” to be bad his first year back from an achilles injury, and their draft evaluators not knowing whether Penix would be available to draft at 8th overall.
Seems like no one really knows what they are doing over there.
Bates was good pickup though. Probably negated by that Mooney albatross…
Draft is always unpredictable. Not saying what they did was smart but locking in a veteran a month before getting a guy you didn’t know if you were going to get isn’t the worst thing in the world. It just backfired
Penix was always going to be there. The top 3 was set.
Exactly. Only the top 3 were set. Hindsight is 20/20
Top 3 was set, but Penix went 8th so this comment makes much less sense than the Falcons signing Cousins and then drafting Penix.
Huh
I was replying to Mmm, who said the top 3 was set, so Penix was always going to be there. That comment makes no sense. Mmm didn’t account for picks 4-7 apparently.
@myaccount-oh ok my bad yes bro I agree! People are acting like Penix was a lock at 8 lmao
Yeah, idk what people are thinking… and for some to act like it was shocking Penix went in the 1st altogether proves they weren’t paying attention.
Facts
Idk how you can say Penix was “always” gonna be there at 8
Draft is unpredictable
People thought Nix and McCarthy would “always” be there in back half of the 1st round too. Look how that turned out.
Atlanta was clearly taking a QB at some point. Look how they structured Cousins contract. No guarantees after 2nd year. So whether it was 2025 or 2026 Atlanta was taking a QB to develop behind Cousins.
Unfortunately Cousins just completely fell apart and their plan to sit develop Penix Jr for 2 years fell apart too.
@Easy-thabk you bro that’s what I been saying. Raiders could have moved up 6 or 7 to take someone or anybody else. They have to plan for any and all scenarios. Penix stock was very good leading into the draft. They had zero clue he’d be there at 8
@ Sentinel / The strategy is sound unless you commit to a large overpay as the Falcons did. What is strange is that nobody is even considering that Penix could get injured and that a backup will be required. Are the Falcons really going to rely on Emory Jones if that were to happen?
@crosseyedlemon—lmao honestly I didn’t know we had Emory until you said that. I had to goggle that
And Penix could be injured hopefully he doesn’t. If we get rid of Kirk during draft we can take a day 3 to develop behind him. I’d have no issues getting a Kyle McCord or a Dillon Gabriel
Falcons had not fallen in love with Penix until after they signed Kirk. So by the time they knew they wanted Penix, Cousins was already under contract. It’s just a poorly run franchise. Fontenot doesn’t know what he’s doing.
They liked penix and scouted him way before Kirk. I’m talking in circles lmao and again I’m not saying what they did was smart but they didn’t know he’d be there at 8. People are acting like falcons had number 1 pick or something
You can never be positive, but Penix was never mocked close to the #8.
There were quite a few mocks done by reputable NFL people that had Penix going to Vegas. I’m pretty sure they had the 12th pick. That’s pretty close to #8. There were also certainly a couple that had him going to Denver with, I believe, the 13th pick.
Worst draft pick ever. But I would’ve gotten Justin Fields instead of Kirk cousins in the first place. At this point all of this garbage is just noise. What are we gonna do about our pathetic defense?
Medical history shows that his recovery performance should be upgraded in year 2 after Achilles tendon surgery. The surgery recovery affected his first year back.
Exactly. And media was put there saying ATL was going to the Superbowl last year. It takes time to get back into rythem and comfortable with your body. I didn’t expect him to light it up week 1 or 2, despite what the media was screaming about.
But he did light it up in week 2
That was a great come from behind win
That’s a worthwhile consideration if Kirk was 27. But at 37 you can’t just assume he’ll be better because he’s had more time to heal/rehab from the achilles inury. He’s at an age where QB’s can fall off a cliff for age related reasons having nothing to do with an acute injury.
Atlanta should be trading Cousins AND a 3rd round pick to someone who will take on his salary. no one is giving them anything more than a 7th
This says they are willing to pay the salary, hence the compensation.
How about trade away all of our picks for the next five years and acquire a defense?
Who would willingly give up draft capital to absorb the contract of an aging QB who hasn’t yet shown he’s fully recovered from his Achilles? The Falcons are delusional.
He recovered from the Achilles, but injured his shoulder during the season.
He completely looked immobile last year and he wasn’t very mobile to begin with. Nothing I saw last year showed me he was fully recovered to his pre-injury self so absolutely nobody is going to invest draft picks on top of covering his contract.
Thank you. Do all of these experts not realize the falcons record and kirks stats before the shoulder/arm injury? His Achilles had nothing to do with it.
“If they have to absorb most of his 2025 salary, they’ll need more than just a Day 3 pick to facilitate a deal.”
In the article you should have read before commenting…. They want higher than a day 3 IF they have to absorb salary…
None of the bozos read it’s evident.
They can eat that salary, nobody paying a good draft pick for him
IF he’s healthy, and that’s a big IF. PITTS should get him. AR15 doesn’t want to play there (him and Tomlin are a toxic combo) and they’re short on options.
Potential suitors for Cousins’ services are waiting in the weeds thinking he can be had for a Day FOUR Pick !!
Translation: they already paid him so much, they might as well wait until there’s a surprise injury at quarterback, and then they can get some value out of him.
I think that’s the only real option they have. AR for all his delaying will end up in Pittsburgh. Cleveland closed the door on Cousins when they signed Flacco (and they will undoubtedly draft a QB in the 1st or 2nd round). The Falcons have to hope for a Teddy Bridgewater type training camp injury. But once September rolls around I don’t see Cousins approving a trade that will either require him to remove his kids from school or spend the season away from them. Which is admirable.
Well, he did just get $90 million in the first year of that deal, so if he wasn’t already set for life from the Minnesota contracts, he is now 😁
At this point, yeah they either must wait or have a panicked franchise contact them after the draft (which is less likely, but possible). Pittsburgh is really the only option at this point, with the Raiders having acquired Smith, the Giants having signed two veterans who could start, and the Saints being a major rival. Pittsburgh, however, ought to be quite wary of trading a high pick for a veteran who could be (but hasn’t shown himself to be) recovered from a debilitating shoulder injury. They really need those picks to plug holes and anticipate the loss of aging contributors (like Hayward and Watt).
Rodgers, for all of Steelers’ fans dislike of him, is a safer bet as he played a whole season last year and comes with no strings attached (at least, signing-wise), plus his supposed willingness to play for a bargain deal (we’ll see on that, if he ends signing somewhere). That’s why the Steelers are waiting, but you have to believe that they’ve also discussed a Cousins offer that they’d be comfortable with should they pivot to that direction. They have to have some general idea on what they’d give up and what it’d cost them on their own books. Either way, it’s not happening at least until after the draft-either for Rodgers or Cousins.
Call Cleveland. They’re everyone’s huckleberry
Dear Falcons,
Take whatever you can get for him!!
Respectfully concerned NFL fan
the most important position is so unpredictable.. who saw smith and darnold rising from the ashes of backup purgatory? if a team has done their homework and a player they believe in .. falls to them .. they’re almost obligated to draft him
They may be waiting for a training camp injury to get close to what they want, in the mean time, they can enjoy a disgruntled QB or order him to stay away. Either scenario is not increasing his value on trade.
This feels a lot like the Bears handling of the Fields trade. They kept holding out until they realized that the phone was ringing.
The music is still playing, there is only one chair left and if Rodgers sits in it first, Cousins had better start working out his clipboard holding muscles.
Falcons will get a 4th Rd pick and a 7th in 2026 for Cousins
Second rounder, 2025
Cousins might not be traded until after June 1
You want me to take on 20 mil of Cousins after last season, you’re giving me a 2nd rounder. 10 mil? I might give you a 6th.
Kirk doesn’t want his kids to have to move again after moving 3 times last year. But … isn’t this manageable when you sign $100 million (or $90 million) contracts ??