The world has turned and left us here. The Fake Slide King Kenny Pickett has proven to be little more than a one-year wonder as a redshirt senior at Pitt. His two-year run with the Pittsburgh Steelers was disastrous. He spent last season backing up Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts on the Philadelphia Eagles. Now he goes to the Cleveland Browns with the hope of potentially being their starting quarterback.
Well, if that ends up being the case, Cleveland is almost certainly going to win around three games again next season. That is why they need to get a better solution under center to have any chance at real success in 2025. One name that has been tied to the Browns all offseason long has been Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons. Cousins is being stubborn. Atlanta wants a third-round pick for him.
Here is what could rectify both teams' offseason needs with one of the saddest trades of all time.
As a Falcons fan, I would be happy with getting back the fifth-round pick Cousins and company cost the team during last year's legal tampering period. Only the Falcons could find a way to somehow screw that up. While Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot wants a third-round pick for him, and the Browns have two, I doubt they will want to part ways with either. No. 104 might as well be one.
Keep in mind that the Browns do not have a fifth-round pick in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft either.
How Cleveland Browns can trade for Kirk Cousins with Atlanta Falcons
Fontenot may want to recoup the third-round pick he gave up to the New England Patriots in the Matthew Judon trade ahead of last season. Cleveland does have two to work with this spring: Their own pick at No. 67 and the No. 94 overall pick by way of the Amari Cooper trade with the Buffalo Bills. Perhaps Fontenot wants Andrew Berry to bite the bullet and send him the latter? It may not happen.
While Cleveland could conceivably send the Falcons any number of their sixth-round picks this spring (they have four...), Fontenot needs to attempt to at least look smart in getting something back for Cousins. He put the Falcons in this mess and he needs to get them out of it. The best way forward is to get draft capital in exchange for Cousins, as well as the team he goes to taking on some salary.
It does not serve Cleveland to take on a penny more than the Browns have to this season. They are still saddled with the albatross of a contract stemming from the Deshaun Watson debacle. Cleveland may not be the least bit good anyway. Then again, the Browns were a playoff team more recently than the Falcons, and that was only two years ago... I think Cousins ends up going to Cleveland eventually.
The Browns have the draft capital and the Falcons have the frustrated quarterback to make this work.