NEW On the move? Let us read it for you. LISTEN NOW
Your browser does not support the audio element.
PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Kirk Cousins has told the Atlanta Falcons he wants to be a starter and Coach Raheem Morris didn't rule out a trade while reiterating the team intends to keep him as the backup to second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
"We still feel very strongly about Kirk being our backup quarterback," Morris said Tuesday at the NFL meetings. "We still feel very strongly about the human. Obviously, it's a business. ... We won't hold him back if opportunity presents itself. He's made it clear he'd like to be a starter."
Cousins, who signed a four-year, $180 million contract last March that included $100 million guaranteed, lost his job after struggling in his return from a torn Achilles tendon.
Penix started the final three games and Atlanta finished 8-9 following a 6-3 start.
The 36-year-old Cousins completed 66.9% of his passes for 3,508 yards and 18 touchdowns with a career-high 16 interceptions. The final $10 million of his $100 million guaranteed money was paid last month because he was still on the roster on March 17.
"At the end of the day, what happens happens, maybe something pre-draft, draft, post-draft, I don't know," Owner Arthur Blank said, "but (Cousins) understands what our needs are and what we have to do as a franchise."
Cousins has a no-trade clause in his contract but his desire to start means he's willing to waive it.
"There's no need to talk about whether he would waive a trade clause if you don't even know who you'd be waiving it for," Morris said. "We do know he would like to be a starter. That has been clearly communicated with me and whoever else he had the opportunity to talk to. It's not anything we're holding him back if the opportunity presents itself, and it's something that's good for both of us."
The Cleveland Browns still need a starting quarterback and Cousins is familiar with Kevin Stefanski, who was an assistant in Minnesota before becoming a head coach.
The Browns traded for Deshaun Watson in 2022 and gave him a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract, but he's played just 19 games since then and may miss the entire 2025 season after rupturing his Achilles tendon for a second time in three months in January.