ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter put out an article where he talked about the Atlanta Falcons have asked any acquiring team to pay $20 million of the $45 million worth of guarantees left on quarterback Kirk Cousins' contract.
The article also cites that to date, no team has been willing to do that, and no team is expected to be willing to, but depending on what happens this weekend and which franchises come out of the draft with or without rookie quarterbacks, that could influence how much guaranteed money a team might be willing to absorb on Cousins' contract.
The Morning Shift reacted to this news as it came out earlier today, and explained why they think this rules out any draft night trades including Kirk Cousins, and potentially any Kirk Cousins trade.
“I don’t think people are going to be willing to pay, and I think what you’re gonna get hamstrung with is gonna be bad.” Beau Morgan said
Beau also talked about how he believes if a team does end up trading for Kirk Cousins it’s going to be well after the draft. Beau also mentions how he likes how the Falcons’ have handled this Kirk Cousins situation when it comes to not settling for whatever a team is willing to offer Atlanta for their current backup quarterback.
“For all the people that want to pile jump and tell me how embarrassing it is because he’s still here, well there’s a reason, because they are going to get the value that they deserve because they know that at the end of the day he’s the type of guy that will come in here, be on the roster, and won’t be a problem, so why give something away for nothing and they’re not going to do that.” Beau said
The Falcons stance on Kirk Cousins has been the same throughout the offseason, and Terry Fontenot and the Falcons’ front office hasn’t wavered on it at all. They are willing to trade Kirk Cousins at their price, and if nobody wants to meet that price they’re perfectly fine keeping him on the roster as their backup quarterback.
Now that we know the Falcons’ asking price for the veteran quarterback it’s starting to seem more and more likely Cousins will be Atlanta's backup quarterback going into next season unless a team desperately needs a quarterback right before the season starts.