Heading into the offseason, the Atlanta Falcons believed they were in a strong position to boost their draft capital by finding a suitor for quarterback Kirk Cousins. At one point, there was even speculation that Cousins could command a premium draft pick — or at least, that was the belief.
“Every time a quarterback gets hurt, the Falcons are going to be like, ‘Hello, look at the guy we got,’” NFL Insider Ian Rapoport said. “He suggested that Atlanta could even land a premium draft pick by trading Cousins during the season if a team becomes desperate enough.”
However, on Thursday, the Falcons’ worst-case scenario materialized: Aaron Rodgers signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, taking one major QB-needy team off the board.
“That stinks for Cousins, and the Falcons may not be too thrilled about running out of trade options either. While Atlanta has said it is ‘comfortable’ keeping Cousins around as its backup, general manager Terry Fontenot can’t be eager to hand out a $27.5 million salary to his QB2,” Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox wrote.
The cheapest option for Atlanta? Cousins retiring — though he hasn’t indicated he’s ready to walk away from football just yet.
“The Falcons would love for him to retire,” CBS Sports’ Joel Corry said. “…If he retires, they are entitled to get back the pro-rated amount of the signing bonus for 2025, 26 and 27. That’s $37.5 million.”
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If Cousins doesn’t take that route, the Falcons will have to keep their options open — possibly waiting for the right opportunity if a team suffers an unexpected quarterback injury.
“But the moment that somebody hits their thumb on a helmet. The moment that somebody pulls up lame with a hamstring, the moment that anything happens to any quarterback, the first question is going to be: is this the team that trades for Kirk Cousins?” said NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
For now, the Falcons are likely to monitor the league closely through the offseason, preseason, and into the regular season — hoping the right window opens for a trade to unload their expensive backup.
