Over the past few days at the NFL Combine, we saw one enormous quarterback domino fall with Matthew Stafford staying in L.A. Next up, we could see the Atlanta Falcons take center stage with a Kirk Cousins decision.
Will Atlanta opt to release Cousins? Could they figure out a trade? There's no way the Falcons actually keep Cousins on the roster for 2025, right?
NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated recently chimed in on the situation and believes we should see a decision coming very soon.
"Cousins doesn’t want to be in Atlanta. The Falcons have been resolute in messaging that they’re planning on keeping him on the roster alongside Michael Penix Jr."
It doesn't seem too shocking to find out that Cousins doesn't want to be in Atlanta. That part is obvious.
But, Breer did go on to mention the fact that Cousins' $10 million roster bonus is due on St. Patrick's Day and, if he's on the roster at that point, it makes things a whole lot more difficult if the Falcons were to suddenly have a change of heart.
"Simply put, if the Falcons truly plan on having Cousins around in 2025, having him on the roster on March 17 would prove it. Because at that point," Breer wrote, "not only are the Falcons on the hook for it (Cousins' bonus), it also would make what’s already unlikely, pulling off a trade to get something back for him, even more difficult."
Clearly, Atlanta is going to make a decision on Cousins very soon. As Breer also alluded to, keeping Cousins on the team even beyond this week would make it difficult on the quarterback to find another starting job since free agency opens up with the legal tampering period beginning March 10.
The Falcons keeping Kirk Cousins might make sense, but would still be a surprise
On one hand, it does make sense for the Falcons to keep Cousins. Could they be worried about Penix and his injury history? Of course. That's only logical. The idea of Cousins being a backup might seem ludicrous, right now, but the Falcons would officially own the league's best backup quarterback -- and it's not close.
At the same time, the Falcons keeping Cousins would be a shock. After this past season, we saw plenty of rumors and reports suggesting that Atlanta was ready to release him this offseason.
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For lack of a better explanation, this seemed to be a "done deal" before anything was, in fact, done. It made sense that Atlanta was going to move on with Penix being their guy and allowing Cousins to find his next home, similar to what the Broncos once did with Russell Wilson.
But now, based on the words of Terry Fontenot, the Falcons truly could end up keeping Cousins on the roster.
And, while it makes sense to some extent, it still feels wrong on multiple accounts; not to mentiion, once again, shocking.