Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins won't be traded following release of Easton Stick.
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Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins won't be traded following release of Easton Stick.
Like all 32 NFL teams, the Atlanta Falcons have to trim down their roster to 53 players by 4 p.m. today. One of their decisions was to clean out the quarterback room by releasing Easton Stick, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
“The #Falcons have released QB Easton Stick, source said, as they whittle down their QB room,” Pelissero posted on X.
Arkesh Ray of Yardbarker says that the Falcons will have to eat Stick’s dead cap money after he signed with the team this offseason.
“Stick had signed a one-year $1,337,500 contract with a $167,500 signing bonus and $567,000 guaranteed, per Spotrac,” Arkesh writes. “So the Falcons will be eating Stick’s guaranteed money in dead cap.
“They’re now down to three quarterbacks. They had three last year, but they moved on from Taylor Heinicke around the same time. It’s possible that they tried to find a deal and couldn’t.”
The Falcons quarterback room was already odd
The 29-year old Stick could end up being re-signed to the Falcons practice squad, and based on the transaction volume today, that could happen before I finish writing about how he got cut.
So, the Falcons now have two quarterbacks on their roster. Michael Penix is a second-year pro and in his first year as a starter. Sure, he played pretty well in a few games last year, but it was a small sample size and is still an unknown.
Kirk Cousins…well, we know his deal. He’s got a massive contract, a no trade clause and the Falcons have tried hard to find a trade partner but never found any takers. At this point, they may not want to.
Kirk Cousins isn’t going anywhere
For now, it looks like Cousins isn’t going anywhere. Even if they wanted to move him at this point, why would they? Forget asking ‘what if Penix goes down?’ because you can say that about any starting quarterback. But, what if he stinks? Personally, I don’t see that happening, but we’ve seen it a million times in the NFL.
Long-time, veteran NFL journalist Armando Salguero says that Cousins is staying put.
“With Stick gone, it is now practically written in stone that Cousins will begin the season as the Falcons’ No. 2 quarterback,” Salguero writes. “Even if Stick returns for practice squad duty or the club adds a practice squad quarterback, it’s clear that Cousins is all but locked in with the team to start the season.”
As of right now, Cousins will not be an NFL starting quarterback in the foreseeable future. He’s probably not thrilled about that, but it is what it is at this point.
“So, there goes his dream of being traded,” Salguero continues. “There goes his dream of returning to a starting job somewhere in the NFL. It’s been a rough couple of days for Cousins on that front. His lot with the Falcons was locked in a while ago when the team found zero suitable offers to trade Cousins elsewhere. Cousins held out hope circumstances might still open a door for him somewhere.”
If nothing else, Cousins always knew it wouldn’t be Stick pushing him for any playing time. He always knew he’d never be worse than second, which is nice.