Falcons Still Willing To Trade Kirk Cousins But Have High Asking Price

According to the Athletic’s Josh Kendall, the Falcons are still willing to trade QB Kirk Cousins during the season, but people around the league consider their asking price too high. 

Kendall adds that Cousins has a no-trade clause and would only approve a deal to a small number of teams, making a lot of trade speculation moot. 

The expectation in Atlanta is that Cousins will finish out the year with the team as the backup quarterback, per Kendall via a league source. 

“Obviously, you would love to play, but I’m not going to dwell on things that aren’t reality,” Cousins said. “That’s not the situation I am in, so it’s better to be focused on the situation I’m in and control what you can control. I think that’s the right mindset to have.” 

Cousins, 36, is a former fourth-round pick of Washington back in 2012. He played out the final year of his rookie contract before being franchised in back-to-back seasons. 

Cousins later departed in free agency for a three-year, $84 million contract with the Vikings. He was entering the final year of his contract in 2020 when he agreed to a two-year, $66 million contract extension. In 2021, he agreed to a new one-year, $35 million contract extension that was also fully guaranteed.

He was in the final year of that deal in 2023 and was testing the market as an unrestricted free agent when signing with the Falcons this offseason. He inked a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed. 

In 2024, Cousins appeared in 14 games for the Falcons and completed 66.9 percent of his passes for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions.