Earlier this week, I took a have a look at what choices have been obtainable to the Atlanta Falcons when it got here to Kirk Cousins. Now benched, the crew’s costly free agent signing might keep, be lower, or be traded, and it was merely a matter of the route the crew wished to take and Cousins would permit.
I advised that Cousins’ contract was not as unattainable to commerce because it may appear, on condition that the crew taking him on would get a comparatively inexpensive quantity of assured cash whereas the Falcons ate the remainder, and the upcoming quarterback market between the draft and free company seems grim. Readers advised fairly moderately that Cousins may not be keen to play ball, on condition that the Falcons sadly gave him a no-trade clause regardless of realizing they’d wish to transfer on from him two-to-three years into the deal.
Right here comes Adam Schefter with some readability, and it appears like Cousins will certainly not be amenable to a commerce. With sources in different entrance workplaces and certain armed with intel from Cousins’ agent, Schefter means that as I suspected, the Falcons will transfer on from Cousins forward of March 17, when a $10 million roster bonus ensures. The widespread expectation throughout the league, he studies, is that the Falcons must lower Cousins and ship him into the open market, with an identical scenario to Russell Wilson after he was lower by the Broncos.
Leaguewide, executives (and perhaps Cousins’ camp, although they’re not named within the piece) suppose the way in which the Falcons dealt with the quarterback all through the spring will make a cut up inevitable. Cousins was infamously not advised the Falcons would draft Penix till they have been on the clock, and studies within the quick aftermath indicated that he was sad the crew each A) drafted his successor and B) didn’t make a choose that may assist the crew in 2024.
In fact, as we identified all through the summer season and early within the season when Cousins was taking part in pretty properly, all Cousins needed to do to quiet the noise and park Penix was thrive because the beginning quarterback. Atlanta’s number of Penix seems like it’ll repay excess of the Cousins signing proper now, earlier than he’s taken a snap, as a result of Cousins had quickly grow to be an albatross for this crew’s 2024 season.
Nevertheless it’s tough guilty Cousins, who signed a multi-year cope with loads of assured cash, for not precisely leaping up and down for pleasure to see his successor instantly drafted and to seek out himself benched earlier than the tip of the primary 12 months of his contract. Anticipating him to do any favors for this Falcons crew in gentle of that’s in all probability anticipating an excessive amount of.
Naturally, the Falcons will not be keen to name it a day on any state of affairs, with an unnamed crew official telling Schefter they might really preserve Cousins given Penix’s modest cap hit. If Cousins is sad and nonetheless desires to start out—and each indication we’ve got at this level means that—then that’s in all probability not going to occur.
A Falcons official advised ESPN on Saturday morning that it was too early to find out whether or not the group would launch Cousins. The official added that Penix’s comparatively low wage cap quantity for 2025 ($5.2 million) offers the Falcons the monetary flexibility to doubtlessly preserve Cousins.
This all suggests a doubtlessly messy scenario, however we also needs to do not forget that unnamed league executives have zero motive to do the Falcons any favors and doubtlessly one large motive to work to create an surroundings wherein Cousins’ launch appears inevitable. The good cash possible is on the Falcons slicing Cousins with a post-June 1 designation to reduce their 2025 cap hit—we’re speaking about $40 million doubtlessly offset by the wage a signing crew give Cousins versus $65 million for a pre-June 1 lower—however a lot can occur between now and March to problem these assumptions. The issue for Atlanta is that there isn’t any cheap state of affairs right here, and the truth that Cousins didn’t even survive a 12 months of his contract makes this the newest in al lengthy line of quarterback-related fiascoes for this soccer crew.
Regardless, until there’s loads of completely happy language coming from Cousins and the Falcons within the coming months, Cousins possible winds up elsewhere in 2025. The Falcons had higher hope Penix thrives with that state of affairs doubtlessly on the way in which.
