Forward of the beginning of the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday night time, a report claimed that the Atlanta Falcons need an “buying workforce to pay $20M of the $45M value of ensures” left on the contract for wantaway quarterback Kirk Cousins to land his companies this spring.
Whereas talking with reporters on Wednesday, Falcons common supervisor Terry Fontenot recommended he is not essentially enjoying hardball in commerce talks with different golf equipment.
“We haven’t put a quantity on it,” Fontenot stated relating to Cousins’ contract, as shared by Charles Odum of the Related Press. “We wouldn’t share particular conversations, however to reply your query, we wouldn’t put a particular quantity on it.”
Tales from days main as much as the draft linked Cousins with the Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Vikings bringing Cousins again to the group is not possible, largely as a result of the membership needs 2024 first-round draft choose J.J. McCarthy to cement himself as its QB1 this spring after he missed all of his rookie season on account of needing a full meniscus restore final summer season.
Cleveland virtually definitely will choose a quarterback through the draft who might or might not compete with Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett for the 2025 Week 1 beginning gig. The Steelers hope to signal Aaron Rodgers as quickly as doable, however they do not know if he’ll play for them later this yr.
As for Cousins, he has a full no-trade clause hooked up to his contract and reportedly would not need to be a part of a distinct membership until he is promised a beginning job for the upcoming marketing campaign. Atlanta turned to 2024 first-round draft alternative Michael Penix Jr. this previous December and commenced springtime exercises with Penix atop the depth chart.
That stated, the Falcons have proven no signal they may minimize Cousins at any level earlier than coaching camp begins amid hypothesis that issues contained in the workforce’s quarterback room might get ugly.
“We’re going to do what’s greatest for this soccer workforce, whether or not that’s a commerce or no matter it’s,” Fontenot added about Cousins’ standing.
Professional Soccer Discuss’s Mike Florio has identified that Cousins has proven since December 2024 that he’ll “be a very good soldier” if he’s requested to be Penix’s backup by the beginning of the 2025 season. One wonders if Cousins might attempt to pressure Fontenot’s hand if no less than one quarterback-needy workforce fails to seize its desired quarterback through the draft.