Over the weekend, ESPN reporter Jeremy Fowler said the Pittsburgh Steelers had Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins on their radar as a fallback option if Aaron Rodgers spurns them.
Now, Fowler said while that is true, Cousins’s contract and Atlanta’s unwillingness to move him unless the team acquires him either eats a lot of money or gives up a real draft pick for them to eat the deal make it seem more unlikely.
“I had some conversations with people this week that led me to believe that Cousins is, at the very least, on the Steelers’ radar if something were to fall through on Rodgers. Cousins has $37.5 million in guarantees between this year and next year. Somebody’s on the hook for that money, whether it’s $4 million, $20 million, whatever it is. But the feeling around the league is that Atlanta has not been willing to budge on this. They haven’t shown a lot of interest in trading Cousins. It would take a hefty price tag for another team to wiggle that out,” Fowler said.
Cousins also has a no-trade clause, so if they did trade for Cousins, it would essentially give him the inside track to become their starting quarterback.
Adam Schefter said in April the Falcons are asking any team that will land Cousins to pick up $20 million in salary.
“Publicly, the Falcons have said they’re not interested in trading quarterback Kirk Cousins but that they’d entertain offers if the right deal was on the table,” Schefter writes. “Atlanta has asked for any acquiring team to pay $20 million of the $45 million worth of guarantees left on Cousins’ contract. To date, no has been willing to do that, and no team is expected to be willing to. But what happens this weekend — and which franchises come out of the draft with or without rookie quarterbacks –could influence how much guaranteed money a team might be willing to absorb on Cousins’ contract.”
Cousins has expressed he would like to leave the Falcons for a new team where he could start this season. Coming off a torn Achilles in 2023, Cousins never fully looked like himself after surgery and a return. Still, the Falcons signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract that made him a highly compensated quarterback.
In his one season with the Falcons, he threw for 3508 yards with 18 touchdowns and a league-leading 16 interceptions in just 14 starts.