Free agency is in full swing for the Atlanta Falcons. While the Falcons must improve their roster to end a seven-year playoff drought, their offseason has been more about departures than key additions. Of course, no move will generate as much attention as the Kirk Cousins situation.
Cousins is due a $10 million roster bonus on Saturday as part of a four-year, $180 million contract signed last spring. After being benched for rookie Michael Penix Jr. last December, many view his release as a formality. But Cousins remains on the roster with no sign the Falcons are ready to throw in the towel.
It turns out, the Falcons have a good reason for holding Cousins hostage in the opening week of free agency, and it may be a standstill that could last well past Saturday’s deadline.
Falcons Don’t Want to Resolve Another Team’s Problem By Releasing Kirk Cousins
Yahoo’s Charles Robinson weighed in on the Cousins situation and admitted he was surprised when two league sources told him the Falcons wouldn’t be releasing the 36-year-old by Saturday’s deadline. The further he dove into the situation, it became clear why the Falcons prefer to hold onto Cousins at this stage.
“The Falcons see that there aren’t enough veteran bridge quarterbacks to go around right now and they’re not inclined to pay Cousins his guaranteed 2025 salary of $27.5 million and resolve some other team’s problem by releasing him,” Robinson wrote. “If that sounds like the Falcons are putting some teams into their crosshairs for a squeeze, it’s because they are.”
There are a lot of factors that make holding onto Cousins the best move for now. The quarterback market has dried up over the opening week of free agency and Aaron Rodgers’s decision has taken most of the blame. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that the Minnesota Vikings are having discussions about bringing in Rodgers for 2025 but have not given a response.
Minnesota needs a quarterback to go with J.J. McCarthy, and Rodgers may be the best one in a market that includes Russell Wilson, Joe Flacco, and Jameis Winston as other options. Even if Rodgers is eyeing the Pittsburgh Steelers or Cleveland Browns, they – along with the Vikings – could be waiting to see what happens with Cousins.
This would create a trade market that gives Atlanta an opportunity to salvage something out of last year’s free-agent disaster. Instead of releasing Cousins and footing most of the bill for next year’s salary in the same way Wilson did after his release from the Denver Broncos last year, the Falcons can squeeze a pick out of a team desperate for a quarterback and get something in return.
But that becomes more complicated past Saturday’s deadline. Most teams are keen on the idea of Cousins because he would cost the veteran minimum to bring in. For the Browns and Steelers, he could also be a stopgap for a long-term solution either at the top of the 2025 draft (Colorado's Shedeur Sanders or Miami’s Cam Ward) or the 2026 draft (Texas’s Arch Manning or Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava).
It all points to a situation that may not be resolved anytime soon and helps the Falcons put the quarterback carousel to a screeching halt.