When the Falcons gave Kirk Cousins $180 million in free agency, they never envisioned he would be this ineffective, especially when the club decided to draft Michael Penix Jr. six weeks later with a top 10 pick.
Just 14 games into that $180 million contract, Cousins’ time in Atlanta is over. The Falcons have benched the veteran in favor of the rookie in one of the worst moves in NFL history. It’s a catastrophe, and head(s) should roll because of it.
Kirk Cousins is taking home $62.5 million in cash this year. Cousins played 14 games, went 7-7, and is getting paid $62.5 million. That’s roughly $4.5 million per game, $2.2 million per win, $1.1 million per quarter, and over $68K per snap.
Cousins received $100 million in guarantees. His 2024 and 2025 salaries are fully guaranteed. There is a $10 million roster bonus due on the 5th day of the 2026 and 2027 league years.
If the Falcons simply cut him after this season with a pre-June 1 designation, they’ll be looking at $65 million in dead money next year. That figure drops to $40 million with a post-June 1 designation, but they’ll also owe Cousins $25 million in 2027. Either way, Atlanta is on the hook for $65 million in dead money if they cut him.
If the Falcons trade him, which Cousins would have to approve because of his no-trade clause, they’ll incur a $37.5 million dead cap hit in 2025. Trading Cousins would be ideal if the Falcons could find a suitor and also convince the veteran to accept the trade, which may actually be the more challenging task, given Kirk Cousins just moved his family from Minnesota to Atlanta.
Never mind the financials; this was a head-scratching decision when the Falcons made it, drafting Penix and paying Cousins within a six-week span, and it went exactly how everyone thought it would go initially.
The Falcons thought they were playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers, but the reality is Arthur Blank’s organization was playing tic-tac-toe. Now, they’ll have to incur some amount of dead money just a few years removed from Matt Ryan’s record-breaking dead cap hit when the Falcons traded him to the Colts. That’s the best-case scenario. The worst-case scenario is Kirk Cousins ends up being the highest-paid backup of all time.
Either way, someone needs to be held responsible for this decision. Whether it’s Terry Fontenot, Rich McKay, Arthur Blank, Raheem Morris or any other leader in the organization, someone needs to take responsibility.
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