Falcons Expected to Cut Kirk Cousins from Roster

Details: Category: NFL; Created: Saturday, 21 December 2024 10:23

The Atlanta Falcons are expected to cut Kirk Cousins from their roster. In addition, they will finalize the move before March 17, which is the due date for Cousins’ $10 million roster bonus. According to NFL betting tutorials and news sites, the split between the Falcons and Cousins is inevitable.

Observant front-office officials have noted that Cousins now has all the leverage because of the no-trade clause in his contract. Nobody thinks he'll be much help to the Falcons, who shocked him on draft night by taking Michael Penix Jr., another quarterback, in the first round and benched him this week to start the rookie.

The Falcons are expected to release Kirk Cousins before his $10 million roster bonus for the 2026 season, due on March 17, because there is a league-wide belief that they cannot transfer him. After shelling out $90 million for 14 games, the Falcons have no business bearing any more expenses related to their quarterback.

Kick Cousins Out of Falcons Roster

For the second year, Cousins will likely become a free agency and sign with whichever club or organization he thinks would provide him the best opportunity to succeed. According to an official who spoke with ESPN on Saturday morning, it is too soon to tell whether the Falcons would release Cousins. The person said the Falcons have some financial leeway to retain Cousins due to Penix's comparatively low 2025 salary cap of $5.2 million.

The league, however, continues to believe that the Falcons will release Cousins before the roster bonus becomes due. After a similar predicament the previous summer, the Denver Broncos dismissed Russell Wilson before the 2025 season's $37 million salary was guaranteed entirely. Just one year before Cousins' roster bonus with the Falcons is due, Wilson's guarantee was due on March 17, 2024.

Wilson received a one-year contract of $1.2 million from the Pittsburgh Steelers. If Kirk Cousins decides to play in 2025, he will likely receive comparable offers from other clubs. The $27.5 million that the Falcons owe Cousins would cancel out whatever pay he gets in 2025, making him a possible steal for the upcoming season.

The Falcons may have been able to negotiate a trade for Kirk Cousins with another club if league executives had seen the situation in Atlanta differently. However, given the events of the past several months, it is doubtful that this will be the case. The Falcons contacted the four-time Pro Bowler Kirk Cousins in April while drafting their first-round quarterback choice; he was not notified of this until then. You must know about roster changes when you become an NFL bookie because they can affect lines.

Replacing Cousins

Since the Falcons picked a guy who might potentially replace Cousins with the eighth overall selection rather than someone to help support Cousins and improve the club, the Cousins camp was understandably frustrated and confused.

Just months after signing a four-year, $180 million deal with a $100 million guarantee, the Falcons deactivated Kirk Cousins. They replaced him with Nick Pelissero as starting quarterback "moving forward" with three games left in the current season.

The Falcons are considering a trade for Kirk Cousins, but they'll need his cooperation, and no one in the NFL thinks they'll get it. So, eventually, Atlanta will have to let him go.

The projected lack of quality quarterbacks this summer intrigues the move. With Sam Darnold, Russell Wilson, and Kirk Cousins expected to be part of the free-agent quarterback class next year, it is safe to say that next year's draft will not have nearly as many quality quarterbacks or depth as this year's. Some teams that could be looking to add a quarterback this offseason are the Titans, Steelers, Browns, Raiders, Jets, Giants, and Saints. Everybody needs a quarterback, but there aren't enough.

Morris revealed on Wednesday that Cousins' turnovers were the main reason he was benched. With 12 fumbles, Cousins is tied for first in the NFL with Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and leads the league with 16 interceptions.

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