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The Atlanta Falcons made headlines when they selected quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft even though they’d signed veteran Kirk Cousins to four-year deal in March.
But Atlanta could “theoretically trade Cousins to a place he wants to go” for 2025 if the 2024 Falcons are “not winning a lot of games,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said April 30 on “The Rich Eisen Show.”
The <a href="http://Falcons signed Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract that includes a no-trade clause. Cousins spent the last six seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, leading them to two playoff appearances. A three-time Pro Bowler, he threw for 23,265 yards and 171 touchdowns as a Viking.
“Kirk Cousins is our quarterback,” Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said in a post-draft press conference. “We’re very excited about Kirk. We’re very excited about this team. Michael Penix, we’re talking about the future. You look at the future. You look at the big picture. We are very excited about that quarterback room, and again, Kirk is our quarterback. But adding Michael Penix is thinking about the future.”
Scenario for Trading Kirk Cousins
The Falcons’ selection of Penix is a move they described as thinking about the future.
“It’s pretty simple for us,” head coach Raheem Morris said at the post-draft press conference. “When you get Kirk Cousins, and you talk about short-term winning and talk about winning right now, which we know we will be in a position to do, we won’t have the ability to be picking this high again with the guy that we got.”
Cousins has $90 million of his $180 million contract guaranteed over the next two seasons. Rapoport suggested that if Cousins is playing well but the team is not necessarily succeeding, the Falcons could trade Cousins and move into the Penix era.
“[D]o you play Penix if he’s good enough?” Rapoport said. “Then maybe you do … You could theoretically trade cousins to a place he would want to go to the next season and then you have your franchise guy.”
Falcons’ Future at Quarterback
“We’re very excited about where Kirk is,” Fontenot said. “We feel very confident in him and everything he’s going to do for us. Again, we’re thinking more long-term with this. We’re very, very excited about Kirk. That has not changed. This is thinking about the future.”
The Falcons discussed the “Green Bay model,” said Morris. The Green Bay Packers selected Aaron Rodgers in the first round when they had Brett Favre in 2005. In 2020, they selected Jordan Love in the first round when they had Rodgers. Rodgers and Love both sat for three seasons before becoming the starter.
The Falcons are looking at the success the Packers had with Love and Rodgers learning from a veteran. The plan for the Falcons is likely to let Cousins play until they feel Penix is ready to take over and then trade him. However, the team will not regret the pick even if Cousins continues to shine through the length of his deal.
“If you believe in a quarterback, you have to take him. And if he sits for four or five years, that’s a great problem to have because we’re doing so well at that position,” Fontenot said. “So, it’s as simple as, if you see a guy you believe in at that position, you have to take him.”
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