Earlier today NFL insider Josina Anderson reported that two quarterback names came up in recent preliminary trade inquiries or internal discussions per a league source, and those two quarterbacks are Kirk Cousins and Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis.
Anderson reported that Atlanta has been getting calls, and she also said that she’s heard there being talk of a 3rd-round pick being potential compensation for Kirk Cousins. The Morning Shift gave their instant reactions to these reports during the show.
Now that it’s been established that there is a definite trade market for the Falcons’ veteran quarterback Mike Johnson wonders what’s the Falcons’ asking price for the services of Cousins
“Where’s the money offset I think is what the biggest question becomes, how much of the contract are you willing to eat or how many picks are you willing to send.” Johnson said
Mike also brings up a trade scenario that he thinks the Falcons couldn’t or wouldn’t refuse
“If Cleveland was to tell you they’d send you two draft picks and you eat the money due to Kirk Cousins, I'm not sure the Falcons would argue with that because you’re so low on draft picks, and you’ve said a number of times you’ve already eaten that money, so I’d be curious to see what exactly those conversations sounded like.” Mike said
Mike finishes his thought by talking about how he feels about the current quarterback market.
“I think there’s gonna be teams that get thirstier and thirstier for a quarterback as we move towards the draft, and the amount of teams that actually need one are starting to dry up just a little bit. I think you’re looking at Cleveland obviously as target A1, Tennessee maybe, but other than that I don't know that there’s a big market.” Johnson said
Beau Morgan then explains why he doesn’t believe Cleveland would give up a high draft pick for Kirk Cousins because of their lack of cap flexibility due to all of the money they have tied up in DeShaun Watson and Myles Garrett, and their need to build their team through the draft.
“I just don’t think Cleveland is viable. I think their whole plan was lets sit on our hands, and wait for the Falcons, and call their bluff and they’ll fold, and that’s the thing that I give them credit for, Atlanta, the one thing that you’ll say is that as far as this situation has gotten and as bad as it sounds I don’t think it’s as bad as we actually think it is, and you gotta give them credit for saying we’re not gonna fold and hand him over to some team for nothing while we take a huge hit. Beau said
It seems like as long as there are teams out there that need a quarterback, holding on to Kirk Cousins is a smart move by Terry Fontenot and the Falcons, and Fontenot and the Falcons so far have proven they’re willing to keep Cousins on the roster as long as it makes sense for them.
