One of the Atlanta Falcons’ biggest offseason priorities will be to offload Kirk Cousins and his contract. The veteran quarterback was a shell of himself in his first year with the Falcons and was ultimately benched with three games left in the regular season.
The former Minnesota Vikings quarterback completed 66.9 percent of his passes for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions. In Cousins’ last five games, he completed 62.6 percent of his passes for 1,180 yards, one touchdown, and 11 interceptions.
The Falcons signed Cousins to a massive four-year, $180 million contract last offseason, hoping to get this organization back to the playoffs and the top of the NFC South. But that dream never materialized for head coach Raheem Morris and the Falcons’ fan base.
Now Falcons GM Terry Fontenot has to find a team to take Cousins off their hands or face the possibility of releasing him. Atlanta likely doesn’t want to do that, as he still has three years left on his deal. The Falcons would also be on the hook for $65 million in dead money with a cut before Jun. 1.
It doesn’t help that the top teams in the 2025 NFL Draft will likely try to get their hands on Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders. However, only two teams can get them, meaning the other QB-needy teams might take a foolish swing at potentially trading for the veteran quarterback.
1. Cleveland Browns
The Browns are one of those teams at the top of the draft, who could take a QB with the No. 2 overall pick.
Cleveland is on the verge of rebuilding. The Deshaun Watson era has been a flat-out disaster and superstar pass rusher Myles Garrett wants out. If you are Browns GM Andrew Berry, it may not be a bad idea to take Ward or Sanders at No. 2, while parting ways with Garrett, if a rebuild is on the horizon.
However, the Browns don’t seem ready to give up on keeping Garrett, which means they’ll likely pursue a veteran quarterback potentially like Cousins.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, "Many are connecting the dots" between Cousins and the Browns because of his connection with Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski. The Browns could sign Cousins for the minimum if Atlanta releases him.
But remember the Falcons don’t want to release Cousins if they can get something in return for him. The Browns would be a tough trade partner for Atlanta as they are a projected $31 million over the cap. Not to mention, Cleveland is still on the hook for Watson’s contract, which is one of the worst contracts in NFL history.
Also, Atlanta is a projected $11 million over the cap, making this one of the tougher trades to put together in recent money.
Therefore, if the Browns were smart, they’d just go after a rookie QB for No. 2 and decide to go all in for a rebuild.