NFL.com's Biggest Free Agent Loser: Falcons QB Kirk Cousins

The Atlanta Falcons and Kirk Cousins are headed towards a nasty divorce. The only thing left to decide is the settlement. The Falcons would like to get back a draft pick and maybe a couple-million dollars in a trade, preferably before they owe him another $10 million next Monday. While Cousins is happy to take his $90 million and seek greener pastures.

The quarterback carousel was spinning fast over the course of the last week including trades and new deals during the first day of the free agency contact period on Monday. Geno Smith, Justin Fields, Sam Darnold, and Kenny Picket all ended up in new locales while the Falcons hold out for a trade partner for Cousins.

NFL.com listed Kirk Cousins among their biggest losers in free agency thus far as he sits and watches jobs he's qualified for fill up.

"He's now surely feeling like one of the most frustrated quarterbacks in the league, as the idea of a fresh start must be tantalizing -- but his franchise is publicly saying it will do what’s best for its own interests," wrote Jeffri Chadiha on NFL.com. "That's got to be a tough one to swallow for Cousins, who played well for half a season and then imploded in such epic fashion that rookie Michael Penix Jr. had his job by the end of the year.

"Cousins can see the same things everyone else can: There are positions out there to be had. There are a handful of teams that need proven veterans, including the Giants, Steelers and Browns. There also aren't many candidates out there without warts. Cousins could be in play if he were a free man. Unfortunately, the Falcons are playing a different game with him, one that probably makes them think somebody will deal for him."

It's all about perspective here, right? I mean, $90 or $100-million for 14 games makes Cousins the biggest loser? In reality, the Falcons are the big losers in this deal as they sat on the sidelines during free agency without publicly coming to contract terms with a single-new player.

They cut arguably their most popular player in Grady Jarrett in a salary-cap-saving move that got them from 30th in available-cap space to 29th according to Spotrac. Cousins's $40-million cap hit for 2025 isn't astronomical, ranking eighth among quarterbacks, but it certainly helped contribute to the Falcons sitting out on Monday while much-needed linebackers, safeties, and edge rushers changed teams.

Cousins's biological clock has to be ticking like Big Ben as he nears 37-years-old, and he's already met with Falcons owner Arthur Blank about leaving the Falcons. Atlanta may be willing to risk $10 million that a team will become more desperate to make a trade after the draft.

If they wait until after next week and are forced to cut him, Cousins's dead-cap number goes from $65 million to $75 million which the Falcons would likely spread across 2025 and 2026.

Falcons fans have probably already grown weary of the Cousins distraction, which is why teams around the NFL aren't willing to come to the trade table with any offers of substance. The Falcons situation is untenable, and they don't need a Cousins distraction during the season while turning to 2024's first-round pick Michael Penix Jr.

Cousins being on the roster Week 1 is most the unlikely of scenarios, just behind him returning some of his signing bonus in exchange for a release.

It's a poker game right now for Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot, one that Cousins has already won for the most part.