The Kirk Cousins Saga Took a New Turn on Monday
A year ago, four-time Pro Bowler Kirk Cousins made the decision to leave the Minnesota Vikings after six seasons, wanting to quarterback the Atlanta Falcons in 2024 and beyond. However, struggling play in the second half of the season led to him being replaced by first-round rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
The Kirk Cousins Saga Took Another Turn on Monday
He undoubtedly regrets that decision. Because it would be absurd to employ a backup for $45 million, trade rumors have swirled all offseason. The Falcons have maintained their stance that they would keep Cousins into the season, but they haven’t been able to squash those speculations.
On Monday, they signed another quarterback and now have four on their roster. Easton Stick, the former backup for Justin Herbert in Los Angeles, will compete for a reserve role in Atlanta.
The franchise announced the move on their official website, “The Falcons have their starting quarterback in Michael Penix Jr., who was selected by Atlanta with the No. 8 overall pick in last year’s draft, a backup veteran in Kirk Cousins and Emory Jones as third on the depth chart. Stick will join the position room as another depth piece.”
Of course, Stick can’t unseat Cousins, but he allows them to ship Cousins elsewhere. He’s not a premium backup, but much cheaper than the veteran.
Stick was a 2019 fifth-round pick by the Chargers after attending NDSU, where he won four FCS championships. The 29-year-old has played in six games, throwing 175 passes for three touchdowns.
Cousins’ potential trade has even been named by the Falcons, “The Falcons have maintained they are willing to trade Cousins if the deal makes sense and he waves his no-trade clause, but recent reports have not indicated any movement on that front.”
The newest trade report came from Adam Schefter. The ESPN insider dropped some nuggets on Monday morning, “Atlanta has asked for any acquiring team to pay $20 million of the $37.5 million worth of guarantees left on Cousins’ contract. To date, no has been willing to do that, and no team is expected to be willing to. But what happens this weekend — and which franchises come out of the draft with or without rookie quarterbacks — could influence how much guaranteed money a team might be willing to absorb on Cousins’ contract.”
Cousins’ contract includes too much money for anyone to entertain the possibility. It looks like the Falcons need to eat some of the money.
Schefter linked the Vikings to the veteran passer: “There is a feeling around the league that a team, whether it is the Vikings or Steelers, might be willing to pay down roughly $10 million. How much any team would be willing to pay also would influence the compensation it gives up. The higher the payment, the lower the draft compensation; the lower the payment, the higher the draft compensation.”
The Vikings still don’t have a genuine backup quarterback. Besides starter J.J. McCarthy, the club only has last year’s QB3, Brett Rypien, under contract.
Cousins could fill that void, although it should be questioned why he would waive his no-trade clause to go from backing up one second-year passer to another. That’s just one of many reasons why the Vikings won’t be his next team.
The starting job in Pittsburgh is still up for grabs, especially if Aaron Rodgers continues to let them wait and contemplate retirement. Another opening could be in New Orleans if Derek Carr misses the season with his shoulder injury. Trading a quarterback within the division would be strange, though.
Cousins, 36, remains in Minnesota’s rumor mill. The Vikings could end those discussions by signing another passer.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.