Kirk Cousins won't entertain questions on if QB would sign with Falcons knowing draft plans

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins spent his career as an opportunist. While most quarterbacks hope to spend their entire career with one franchise, Cousins opted to maximize his value and worked the free agency landscape. Ever since he first rose to prominence in Washington, the former fourth-round pick has established himself as the NFL's greatest negotiator.

After his early-career breakout in Washington, Cousins became the first quarterback to receive two consecutive franchise tags in league history. The savvy veteran entered the offseason with $231.6 million in total career earnings.

Cousins spent the past six seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, but opted to find a new home this offseason. When he signed a four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons in free agency, he didn't view his new team as a pitstop. The journeyman quarterback expected Atlanta to be the last leg of his NFL journey.

So far, Cousins' time in Atlanta has not been what he envisioned. Shortly after paying Cousins to be their starting quarterback for the next four years, the Falcons made the befuddling decision to select Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Kirk Cousins avoids discussing regret about signing with Falcons

On Tuesday, reporters asked Cousins the one question everyone has wanted to know: Would Cousins have signed with the Falcons if he knew they were going to select a quarterback in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft? Cousins conveniently doesn't deal in hypotheticals.

"I don't really deal in hypotheticals," Cousins said. "We could go down that path for a long time in a lot of ways, and it just doesn't do us any good."

In other words, there is no way he would have moved his family to Atlanta for the final stretch of his career if he knew a highly-drafted quarterback would be lingering in the background, ready to replace him at the first sign of weakness.

Cousins is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon and will be nearly 40 years old when his contract expires. Penix is already 24 years old, which means he would be 28 years old when Cousins' contract expires. That's a long time for a top-10 pick to sit on the bench. Although Cousins has a full no-trade clause in his contract, he may want a trade if he's benched before he's ready to hang up the cleats.

The Falcons don't seem to expect Cousins to play out all four years of his contract. Atlanta built an escape hatch into Cousins' contract after the 2026 season which would allow the team to release him with a relatively minimal dead cap charge of $12.5 million.

At this stage in his career, Cousins knows that it's likely for Penix to replace him at some point in the next two or three years. It happened to Brett Favre with Aaron Rodgers, and it happened to Aaron Rodgers with Jordan Love. Cousins hasn't even put on a Falcons jersey yet, and the clock is already ticking.

With Penix hovering over his shoulder, signing with the Falcons may have been the first free agency mistake of his career.

Maybe the greatest free agency negotiator is losing a step after all.