Kirk Cousins Hit with Brutal Career Update
Quarterbacks are dropping like flies in the NFL. Brock Purdy suffered a toe injury that knocked him out last week, but he’s apparently already on his way back to the field. J.J. McCarthy, obviously, is set to miss Sunday’s game and potentially more, and Joe Burrow is on IR with a toe injury, sidelining him for an estimated three months. And then there’s Jayden Daniels, who sustained a knee injury last week against the Packers and his status is uncertain.
Kirk Cousins Hit with Brutal Career Update
With all those injuries, the trade market could heat up in the near future. Someone who has been viewed as the prime replacement quarterback for an injured starter is Kirk Cousins, Atlanta’s QB2 behind Michael Penix Jr.
However, despite all the sidelined passers, there has been zero traction about a possible Cousins deal, and this week, NFL insider James Palmer revealed why on the Scoop City podcast of The Athletic.
“There were some people around the league that I talked to that think Kirk Cousins is essentially done,” Palmer declared. “I don’t know if that’s a universal thought or not, so it has to be the right team that doesn’t think that and have the availability cash-wise and have the availability in terms of the need to make something happen.”
That’s devastating news for the always good, never great 37-year-old. Sure, Cousins is not getting any younger, and the second half of his 2024 campaign was rough, but he is only 11 months removed from a game with over 500 passing yards on national television, and he was on pace for nearly 4,400 passing yards and 32 passing touchdowns after nine games last year.
Palmer added that his stint in Atlanta will likely continue and is more likely than any trade. The Falcons apparently view the four-time Pro Bowler as a nice insurance policy of their own. If Penix Jr. suffered an injury or his performance needed him to be pulled, having an experienced backup with some real high-end talent is a nice luxury.
Fellow reporter Ian Rapoport has similar thoughts about the situation, mentioning that no team has inquired about the signal-caller. But that’s not the only reason why a trade has not happened, he added.
“To me, the good reason is that Kirk Cousins has incredible value,” Rapoport said. “I know it’s $100 million and I know the Falcons are going to pay all of that, but really, he is a proven starting quarterback who happens to be the backup quarterback.”
The Falcons lured Minnesota’s starter of the previous six seasons to Atlanta for a whopping $180 million, just to draft his successor six weeks later.
“And if Michael Penix gets hurt, Cousins will step in there. That allows the Falcons to drive a very, very hard bargain. In other words, if you are going to trade for Kirk Cousins, if you’re a team that says we got to have this guy, you’re going to have to pay some of the salary, and you’re going to have to give a real draft pick. That is the luxury the Falcons have. They can just keep him because he is an excellent, excellent backup quarterback. Perhaps that is why we have not seen a deal,” Rapoport concluded.
For now, Cousins is stuck in Atlanta because Penix Jr. has shown promise as a passer in his five starts, although he has not been consistently great thus far. A trade for Cousins would cost the acquiring team a ton of cap space if Atlanta refused to pay for some of it, while also requiring some draft capital to go Atlanta’s way.
If they indeed view him as a valuable backup piece, there simply won’t be a trade happening anytime soon. Cousins’ decision to move to the NFC South was a terrible one, to say the least.
The Vikings, meanwhile, feel confident with Carson Wentz for a couple of games before McCarthy ultimately makes his return. McCarthy has struggled in his limited NFL experience, but if you want to use a Kevin O’Connellian euphemism in this case, you can call it a learning experience and hope for improvement.
Cousins remains third in passing yards and second in passing touchdowns in Vikings franchise history.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.