Well, this happened... All offseason long, all anyone wanted to talk to me about in the sports world is what the Atlanta Falcons are going to do about Kirk Cousins. I felt that the situation had become untenable and that he had to be traded. Logic was going to prevail, or so I thought. This is the world we live in, apparently, as Cousins is almost certainly going to be coming back to the Falcons this fall.
My swift pivot in this direction has everything to do with what just happened in NFL free agency. The ageless Joe Flacco, yes, Matt Ryan's fellow 2008 NFL Draft classmate, has agreed to a one-year deal to return to the Cleveland Browns after spending last year with the Indianapolis Colts. When Flacco was in Cleveland, the Browns did make the playoffs, so there is plenty of belief of him in the building.
What this means for Dirty Bird Nation is that Cousins is now without his most likely trade destination. I wrote about it earlier on Friday morning about how the Flacco signing sabotages any notion that the Browns would take former Colorado Buffaloes star Shedeur Sanders with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Now, it seems as though Cousins will either go to the Pittsburgh Steelers or stay put.
This news is arguably the worst-case scenario for the flightless Falcons, who once again messed up.
Reunion: the Cleveland Browns and veteran quarterback Joe Flacco reached agreement today on a one-year, $4 million deal worth up to $13 million with incentives, his agency @JLSports3 told ESPN. Flacco now will return to Cleveland, where he won the NFL’s Comeback Player of the… pic.twitter.com/pOaCuhrVmS
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 11, 2025
While there could be a silver lining in having a high-quality backup, man, did we posture for nothing...
All of this Kirk Cousins trade posturing seems to have been for naught
Atlanta seemed far too comfortable with paying Cousins an ungodly amount to be Michael Penix Jr.'s backup for this season. The reason the Falcons have convinced themselves as such is they are paying Penix hardly anything at all, now in year two of his rookie deal out of Washington. Technically, Atlanta can afford to keep both, but when have we ever seen a high-priced backup be happy with it?
The last time I remember this being the case was when Tony Romo got hurt during the preseason in what was his final season with the Dallas Cowboys. Dak Prescott emerged in 2016, and the rest was history. What I think the Flacco deal with the Browns does is help the Falcons keep their eye on the prize on loading up with the best defensive players possible. Maybe a trade for Cousins will manifest?
In all likelihood, Cousins is probably only going to get dealt after the 2025 NFL Draft, possibly in the early part of training camp. Every year, somebody's starting quarterback always get hurt and they panic. Atlanta will be there to save the day, assuming Cousins will be willing to waive his no-trade clause. To think that Atlanta was going to recoup a mid-round pick for him is honestly laughable now.
That day may present itself one day soon, but for now, the Falcons have egg on their face once again.