The Atlanta Falcons felt like they finally built a roster that could compete in the playoffs last season after signing Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract in free agency. Yet, their high-priced acquisition didn’t turn out the way they imagined.
Cousins did help the Falcons’ offense improve from the 26th-ranked scoring unit in 2022 to the 13th-best scoring attack in 2023. However, the Falcons only improved their win total by one, topping out at eight games after making an offseason coaching change from Arthur Smith to Raheem Morris.
Late in the season, when the Falcons needed a spark after narrowly escaping with a six-point victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, they turned to rookie first-round selection Michael Penix Jr, placing their four-time Pro Bowl QB on the bench.
Now the keys to Atlanta’s offense belong to Penix, the franchise quarterback of the future. So, where does that leave Cousins, who has three years remaining on his contract?
NFL insider hints at likely Kirk Cousins trade
Kirk Cousins will turn 37 years old in August. He doesn’t want to waste what’s likely one of the final years of his NFL career as a backup quarterback. He wants to be out on the field, competing at the highest level with the rest of his starting quarterback peers.
Barring injury, the Falcons won’t be starting the season with Cousins as their starter, which means the 13-year NFL veteran likely wants a trade. The only issue is that the Falcons don’t want to just give their talented quarterback away.
After all, the Falcons won the Cousins free agency sweepstakes last offseason. Shouldn’t there be some sort of reward?
Instead, the Falcons are set to pay Cousins a $27.5 million salary in 2025, which is far more expensive than any other backup quarterback in the NFL. Of course, since they have Penix on an inexpensive rookie contract, the Falcons still aren’t allocating a ridiculous amount of cap space to the most important position in the NFL.
Still, with so many teams in need of adding a starting quarterback, Cousins should be able to land a starting job. Somewhere. Yet, Cousins and the Falcons have been unable to find a trade partner thus far.
However, according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, there are still strong signs that a trade will be coming. After all, the Falcons have not restructured Cousins’ contract.
“The Cousins contract has a provision allowing the Falcons to automatically restructure the deal, whenever they want. They have not yet exercised that right. Doing so would create up to $20.996 million in 2025 cap space, by reducing his salary from $27.5 million to $1.255 million, paying the difference as a bonus, and spreading it over five years.”
PFT’s Mike Florio on Kirk Cousins
While a Cousins trade does not appear imminent, the veteran reportedly will be eager to waive his no-trade clause after the 2025 NFL Draft, where quarterback depth charts will be more defined.
Florio believes that since the Falcons have not restructured Cousins’ contract, it’s a sign that he will be traded.
“If they’re serious about keeping Cousins for 2025, it would make sense to create another $20 million in cap space. If they’re thinking about trading him, it would make no sense; not only would they pay him a $26.245 million signing bonus (instead of sending his $27.5 million salary to a new team) but they would also absorb a much larger cap hit when trading him. While it’s not a certainty that the Falcons would have restructured the Cousins contract if they absolutely were keeping him for 2025, the chances of a restructuring are nil, if they’re thinking about trading him.”
PFT on Kirk Cousins/Falcons trade
Several teams, including the Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings, have both a need at quarterback and coaching connections to Cousins. Both teams could still be in play to land Cousins later this offseason, especially if the Falcons don’t restructure his contract.
