The Atlanta Falcons are reportedly in no hurry to trade quarterback Kirk Cousins, and it will “take a big financial package” for a potential suitor to convince them to move the veteran.
“I continue to hear that the Falcons are not overly motivated to move Kirk Cousins right now,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported during a Sunday appearance on SportsCenter. “They’re willing to be patient. As one team source told me, ‘What’s the rush? We’ve already locked into $37.5 million in additional guarantees for 2025 moving forward.’ And so, they’re going to kind of feel this out.
“It might be two months, it might be two weeks, it might be six months, they haven’t made that sort of firm determination as far as how long it’ll be in a Falcons uniform. But the sense I get from teams is that it simply would just take a big financial package, because they need a lot of money to try to offset that $37 million. They need somebody to step in.”
Fowler also listed the Cleveland Browns as an obvious suitor considering Deshaun Watson suffered a second Achilles tear and may miss the 2025 campaign
“So, Cleveland has scoured the Earth for quarterback help, we know that,” he said. “They have familiarity with Kevin Stefanski, the head coach, a former coordinator for Kirk Cousins himself. Cleveland is still a team to watch until they fill that void at that spot, but they don’t have a lot of money to spend. That’s part of the issue.”
The Browns traded for Kenny Pickett this offseason, but Cousins is a far more proven option who, as Fowler pointed out, is familiar with Stefanski from their time on the Minnesota Vikings and could probably immediately step in and know the offense.
As for the Falcons, there is no reason to rush a Cousins decision at this point since his $10 million roster bonus due in 2026 was triggered Saturday.
ESPN’s Marc Raimondi explained the NFC South team owes him $27.5 million for the 2025 campaign regardless of whether they released him or not. What’s more, that $10 million bonus is subject to offsets if he isn’t on the team that season.
Atlanta can wait until there is a significant quarterback injury around the league and have far more leverage in trade discussions. That leverage would be especially high if it happened closer to the season and the potential suitor didn’t have as many options as it does during the offseason.
If nothing else, Cousins is an overqualified backup to Michael Penix Jr. who can keep the Falcons afloat if their own starter suffers an injury.
That is a solid fall-back reality if Atlanta never gets the financial offer it is looking for in trade discussions.
