The Falcons played hardball with Kirk Cousins. At least from the perspective at this point of the offseason, the strategy appears to have been successful.
After the high-priced quarterback was supplanted by then-rookie Michael Penix Jr. at the end of last season and Cousins clearly wanted out so he could be a starter elsewhere, they could have released him with nothing gained in return, absorbed the accompanying salary-cap hit and made a clean break.
But they didn’t, asserting that they planned to retain him as their backup to Penix. At first, it was written off as bluster to prop up Cousins’ trade value. It’s hard to see it that way now.
Owner Arthur Blank didn’t budge when Cousins spoke with him on the phone and presumably made a case to be released.
The Falcons have been willing to listen to trade overtures from quarterback-needy teams, which would at least bring back some value in the form of draft picks and lessened the cap hit. But they evidently did not get the offer they wanted and held the line.
At the end of the draft Saturday, general manager Terry Fontenot was asked whether the team had received calls about trading Cousins during the selection process. Fontenot said he wouldn’t share private communications but added that nothing about the team’s stance had changed.
“Just like on any player, if we get a call, we’ll discuss it,” he said. “If it makes sense, it’s going to help this team, we’ll do it. If not, we won’t.”
And now more than ever, it would appear that coach Raheem Morris will take Cousins to training camp as a backup to Penix. The draft came and went. Every likely trade partner added a quarterback in the draft. The most likely remaining possibility, the Pittsburgh Steelers, are expected to sign Aaron Rodgers.
If Cousins wants to go only to a team where he would be the starter, with no rookie waiting in the wings, it would seem he’s out of luck.
For the Falcons, this seems like as practical an outcome as there is. They’ve paid for him. They might as well keep him and get some return from the investment they’ve made.
The Falcons don’t get every decision right. Often, it feels like they don’t even get most of them right.
But keeping Cousins, at least at this point, will be of the greatest benefit to the team, which Fontenot has said all along would be the parameter for managing the situation. What sounded like posturing actually has turned out to be the case.
Keeping the quarterback who was signed to be the franchise savior as the backup has the potential to be high on the awkward scale. But it makes sense from the following standpoint.
Statistically speaking, it’s likely Penix will not start all 17 games this season, or even 16 games. It’s also probable that if the Falcons were to end their seven-year postseason drought and make the playoffs, they wouldn’t do so with much margin. They are counting on a second-year quarterback with three starts to his credit, after all, and as many as four rookies could be heavily depended upon.
A healthy Cousins would give the Falcons a far better chance to win a game or games without Penix than anyone else that they could sign.
Beyond that, the salary-cap repercussions make it favorable for the Falcons to keep him rather than cut him. And while they have been willing to listen to trade offers, they’ve obviously not been desperate to unload Cousins. They’ve recognized that having Cousins on the roster has value.
The expected path was for the Falcons to cut ties to Cousins before a $10 million roster bonus was due to him in March. No less an authority than ESPN’s Adam Schefter in December that the split was “inevitable at this point,” citing multiple unnamed sources.
But Cousins was present last week for the first day of the team’s voluntary offseason program, an indication that he’ll be willing to cooperate and be the sort of teammate that someone making $27.5 million this season should be.
Morris was not expecting him to be there.
“I think he’s done a great job of coming in, being with his team, being a part of us, and that’s what he’s got to do right now until we figure out whatever else could happen,” Morris said. “Obviously, we’re open to all the ideas and things that we talk about and ... listening to people and communicating to see what happens best for our team, but it’s always going to make sense for the Falcons.”
The Falcons have a history of straying from the NFL norm, which helps explain why they’re still waiting for their first Super Bowl title. The signing of Cousins to a contract with $90 million guaranteed and then the drafting of Penix with the No. 8 pick a month later will stand perpetually as a prime example.
But trying to gain value from Cousins, this one looks like it makes sense.
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