Atlanta Falcons Have Various Exit Strategies For Kirk Cousins ​​Contract Per ESPN

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell put together a list of his biggest winners and losers from the 2024 NFL Draft and, unsurprisingly, Atlanta Falcons starting quarterback Kirk Cousins ​​was one of the losers. In the article, Barnwell outlines some exit strategies the Falcons are adopting to get out of the crazy quarterback situation they created by drafting Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall.

According to Cousins’ contract, he is expected to be in Atlanta through the 2025 season with a natural pivot point in 2026.

Cousins ​​is guaranteed $100 million on the four-year deal he signed in March. He already received a $50 million signing bonus. He has a base salary of $12.5 million this year, a base salary of $27.5 million next year and a $10 million bonus in 2026 that guarantees whether he will make the roster of 2025. As long as he wants to continue playing, he will collect a minimum of 100 million dollars for two years of work or 135 million dollars for three years.

Will this all be with the Falcons? First of all, it depends on Cousins. He has a full no-trade clause, meaning he can force the franchise to pay him that $100 million over two years before moving to Penix for the 2026 season. Naturally, though Cousins ​​may not want to move to another city after landing in Atlanta, the veteran also may not want to sit out 2025 behind Penix if the Falcons are ready to move on and there is an exciting opportunity available elsewhere .

It’s the ideal situation, but let’s say Penix impresses enough that Atlanta wants to put the 24-year-old on the field as soon as possible, is there any way the Falcons can get out of the deal with Cousins ​​at the end of the season? According to Barnwell, yes, but it will be complicated.

If Cousins ​​agrees to a trade, it would be easy; Atlanta would have actually saved $2.5 million in this deal, and although it would have paid him $62.5 million for a year’s work, it would not be required to pay the $37.5 million. dollars remaining in guarantees. The Falcons reportedly have $37.5 million in dead money on their cap, but we’ve seen teams become more comfortable eating that kind of dead money if they’re willing to move on from a quarterback.

Removing Cousins ​​after 2024 would be harder to swallow, especially from a financial perspective. The Falcons would be due $27.5 million guaranteed in 2025 and would essentially be paying him to play for the minimum elsewhere, as Russell Wilson currently does in Pittsburgh. They would back out of the $10 million commitment for 2026, but in addition to spreading $65 million in dead money over two years, they would have paid Cousins ​​$90 million for a year of football as that lame signalman. This couldn’t have been their plan when they signed it.

Being the next iteration of the Denver Broncos quarterback situation doesn’t seem like a fun proposition, but if Penix comes in and gives the Falcons stability for the next decade-plus, who cares what it took to put it on the ground?