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7 hours ago
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The drama between Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons most likely isn’t over. It seems every month since Cousins was benched, a new report emerges about how the veteran quarterback felt misled by the organization.
The latest twist came via Cousins’ eye-opening admission on Netflix’s Quarterback series.
“I was pretty surprised when the draft happened — wasn’t expecting us to take a quarterback so high,” Cousins said. “At the time, it felt like I had been a little bit misled, or certainly if I had had the information around free agency, it would have affected my decision. I had no reason to leave Minnesota, as much as we loved it there, if both teams were drafting a quarterback high.”
Cousins also admitted he tried to hide the elbow and shoulder injury he suffered against the New Orleans Saints in Week 10, attempting to play through it out of fear he’d lose his starting job.
“The Achilles itself healed pretty well,” Cousins said. “And even then, we were 6-3, playing well, doing a lot of good things, even if the right ankle wasn’t perfect. You know, nobody’s perfect in this league. We’re never feeling 100%. It didn’t really affect me too much. But then against the Saints, I got hit pretty good in my right shoulder and elbow, and from there [I was] kind of dealing with that... it was something I was working through. I could just never get it to where I wanted it.”
It’s clear Cousins wasn’t — and still isn’t — happy with the Falcons’ decisions. With his Netflix comments now surfacing, Atlanta could finally look to trade him.
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One team that’s been repeatedly floated is the Cleveland Browns, largely due to Cousins’ past connection with head coach Kevin Stefanski. But 247Sports’ Jacob Roach believes that idea makes little sense.
“No matter how little sense it makes, this narrative won’t go away,” Roach wrote. “It starts with Cousins’ contract, which the Falcons are reportedly unwilling to cover a large portion of to facilitate a trade. Under his current deal, Cousins has a cap hit of $40 million in 2025 and $57.5 million in the next two seasons. As the Browns continue to pay the Deshaun Watson contract, taking on Cousins’ current deal without Atlanta absorbing some of the cost is just not feasible.
“In addition to the financials not making sense, Cousins’ performance at the end of last season wasn’t good. His passes were seriously lacking velocity, and his glaring physical limitations limited the offense. Over the final five games that he played, Cousins threw nine interceptions and fumbled the ball five times. You add in his lack of mobility, and you just have a guy who is a shell of his former self.”
Roach added that he would prefer Cleveland stick with Joe Flacco or rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
The Browns are already in a bit of a quandary with their quarterback room. Unless they believe none of their five quarterbacks — including Watson — can lead the offense in 2025, then they have bigger issues than anything Cousins could fix. In fact, trading for Cousins might only add to the drama.
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