Dianna Russini reports that the Falcons could still end up moving veteran QB Kirk Cousins, despite the possibility that he could also finish out the season as Atlanta’s backup.
As of now, the Falcons are still willing to deal Cousins, but have no plans of relenting on their significant asking price, including asking another team to take on a significant chunk of his salary.
Cousins also has a no-trade clause in his contract that he doesn’t plan to waive unless the situation is right for him.
The Bengals didn’t end up dealing for Cousins after QB Joe Burrow was injured and replaced by QB Jake Browning, with Russini mentioning that teams may not be ready to absorb what’s left of his $27.5 million base salary for 2025 and give up a draft pick or two as well.
Russini points out that if a team loses its quarterback in the middle of the season, it could still turn to Cousins. And Russini makes the point that if the Falcons are willing to take on Cousins’ money, they’d essentially be buying themselves a higher draft pick from a QB-needy team.
Cousins, 36, is a former fourth-round pick of Washington back in 2012. He played out the final year of his rookie contract before being franchised in back-to-back seasons.
Cousins later departed in free agency for a three-year, $84 million contract with the Vikings. He was entering the final year of his contract in 2020 when he agreed to a two-year, $66 million contract extension. In 2021, he agreed to a new one-year, $35 million contract extension that was also fully guaranteed.
He was in the final year of that deal in 2023 and was testing the market as an unrestricted free agent when signing with the Falcons this offseason. He inked a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed.
In 2024, Cousins appeared in 14 games for the Falcons and completed 66.9 percent of his passes for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions.
We will have more on Cousins as it becomes available.
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