Ahead of the start of the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday night, a report claimed that the Atlanta Falcons want an "acquiring team to pay $20M of the $45M worth of guarantees" left on the contract for wantaway quarterback Kirk Cousins to land his services this spring.
While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot suggested he's not necessarily playing hardball in trade talks with other clubs.
"We haven’t put a number on it," Fontenot said regarding Cousins' contract, as shared by Charles Odum of the Associated Press. "We wouldn’t share specific conversations, but to answer your question, we wouldn’t put a specific number on it."
Stories from days leading up to the draft linked Cousins with the Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Vikings bringing Cousins back to the organization isn't likely, largely because the club wants 2024 first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy to cement himself as its QB1 this spring after he missed all of his rookie season due to needing a full meniscus repair last summer.
Cleveland almost certainly will select a quarterback during the draft who may or may not compete with Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett for the 2025 Week 1 starting gig. The Steelers hope to sign Aaron Rodgers as soon as possible, but they don't know if he'll play for them later this year.
As for Cousins, he has a full no-trade clause attached to his contract and reportedly doesn't want to join a different club unless he's promised a starting job for the upcoming campaign. Atlanta turned to 2024 first-round draft choice Michael Penix Jr. this past December and began springtime workouts with Penix atop the depth chart.
That said, the Falcons have shown no sign they will cut Cousins at any point before training camp begins amid speculation that things inside the team's quarterback room could get ugly.
"We’re going to do what’s best for this football team, whether that’s a trade or whatever it is," Fontenot added about Cousins' status.
Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio has pointed out that Cousins has shown since December 2024 that he'll "be a good soldier" if he is asked to be Penix's backup through the start of the 2025 season. One wonders if Cousins could try to force Fontenot's hand if at least one quarterback-needy team fails to grab its desired quarterback during the draft.
