ATL Keeping Kirko Past Roster Bonus Deadline
The Atlanta Falcons plan to keep Cousins, the veteran quarterback, on their roster past 4 p.m. ET Saturday, triggering the guarantee on a $10 million roster bonus due in 2026, sources told ESPN's Field Yates and Adam Schefter.
The Falcons owe Cousins $27.5 million for 2025 whether they keep him or release him, so from a business sense, holding onto him as Penix's backup, albeit a very highly priced one, makes sense.
The $10 million roster bonus that becomes guaranteed Saturday is for 2026, and if Cousins is no longer on the team, the Falcons are subject to offsets. Atlanta holding onto him now bides the organization time to work on a trade.
For Cousins' part, he wants to be a starting quarterback in the NFL next season, and he has been frustrated by the current situation, a league source said.
According to a Sports Illustrated report, Cousins asked for and was granted a meeting with Falcons owner Arthur Blank last week. Atlanta would not confirm the report.
Cousins was also caught by surprise last year when the Falcons drafted Penix in the first round as his heir apparent.
If the Falcons were to trade him, Cousins would have to clear any deal. He has a no-trade clause.
ESPN
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
I was curious about achilles injuries so I did some Googling. Found some nerdy article in a government website saying in the past 25 years these injuries have increased 4X. They referenced Aaron Rodgers while misspelling his name Rogers. Made me chuckle.
Like the article points out, Atlanta was basically on the hook for his money, so they just budgeted it as "spent" and are playing a longer game.
I'd still be fine with him wandering back as our QB2, with a deal that basically has Atlanta's money cover most/all of his pay in exchange for being free of him after the season. I "think" that injuries and the last season should have tempered his "start or nothing" mindset a bit.
KOC, JJM, Flores...make a good plan, or you'll be following Kwesi....
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