The Atlanta Falcons are on a deadline with Kirk Cousins. On Monday, March 17th, Kirk Cousins will lock in a $10 million roster bonus and some feel that there is a level of urgency from Flowery Branch to move on from that contract post haste.
Contrary to that belief, the Falcons will not be worried about sending him away for anything less than what he's worth -- i.e. they will not be cutting him or rushing a deal. According to Mike Florio and Pro Football Talk, there is a misunderstanding on what his roster bonus actually counts for and there really is no worry with the Falcons' brass about keeping him around in 2025.
The Steakhouse listened to the comments from outside markets and discussed why there is no desperation to move off of Cousins.
"The notion that the Falcons are ready to move on from Kirk Cousins, release him or [trade] him, because of the March 17 deadline... is not accurate and it is not a concern," Steak said after hearing the discussions from Cleveland sports radio before recapping the Florio sourced article. "There is no real pressure on them because somebody next year is probably going to be paying Kirk Cousins more than $10 million. Then that responsibility shifts to the new team and not to the Falcons."
While the $27 million cap hit for a backup quarterback is a large number, the combined cap hit for him and Michael Penix is sitting around $32 million. As a whole, the number is relatively easy to stomach for one season. To put it into perspective, 19 teams will be paying their starter more in average annual value than the Falcons will be paying both of their quarterbacks.
The Falcons are not desperate to make a move right now. In fact, they are more likely to prey on some other poor team who is still trying to find their 2025 starter and save their job.
"It would make no sense to release him and go sign another quarterback," Steak finished, "Why would some team not look at the body of work last year, trust that he was injured, and say this guy could win games for me?"
The Falcons have a $10 million roster bonus coming for Kirk Cousins, but there's no indication of desperation -- despite what some other teams might think.
