Much has been made about whether the Atlanta Falcons could replace veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins with Michael Penix Jr. atop their depth chart next year after the Falcons made Penix the eighth overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.
For a piece published Thursday, ESPN NFL insider Dan Graziano explained how Atlanta could trade Cousins in March 2025.
"Cousins is guaranteed $27.5M for 2025, and he has a $10M 2026 roster bonus that becomes fully guaranteed at the start of the 2025 league year this coming March," Graziano wrote. "So any acquiring team would be on the hook for $37.5M -- more than reasonable for a good starting quarterback in 2025. There's no doubt that if the Falcons made Cousins available next spring, teams would be interested."
The Falcons signing Cousins to a four-year, $180M contract that included $100M guaranteed less than two months before they acquired Penix with such a valuable draft asset remains arguably the most curious development of the NFL offseason.
While Cousins turns 36 years old in August and may be in the twilight of his prime coming off the torn Achilles he suffered in October 2023, Penix will be 25 next summer and should want to play sooner rather than later.
As of early Thursday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Falcons at -190 betting odds to make the playoffs for the upcoming season.
Signing Cousins was always a "win now" move for any franchise, so Atlanta could make the signal-caller available if the club either fails to make the playoffs or becomes a one-and-done postseason team.
"Trading Cousins would mean a $37.5M dead-money charge for 2025, and they would have paid him $62.5M for one season," Graziano added about the Falcons possibly moving on from the four-time Pro Bowl selection next year. "That's also not ideal, but if Atlanta really believes in Penix and thinks he's ready at that point, it's not prohibitive."
As for a potential landing spot for Cousins, he's already been linked by some with a Dallas Cowboys team that seemingly isn't close to signing starter Dak Prescott to an extension.
Prescott is in the final year of a contract that includes no-tag and no-trade clauses, and it's believed he could ink a deal that pays him roughly $60M per season if he reaches the open market when the new league year opens in March 2025.
