Kirk Cousins and the Cleveland Browns have been circling one another for weeks, as Cousins looks to leave the Atlanta Falcons after being benched late last season for rookie Michael Penix Jr.
The relationship between Cousins and the Falcons has been strained from the start, as Atlanta gave him a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed, only to draft Penix in the first round of the NFL draft just weeks later. Cousins's contract makes him virtually untradeable, especially for a Cleveland franchise already on the hook for Deshaun Watson's megadeal, so the only reasonable way for the Browns to obtain the veteran QB is for Atlanta to release him, something they have signaled that they won't do.
Atlanta Journal Constitution writer D. Orlando Ledbetter outlined the situation during an appearance on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland. He thinks the Falcons would move Cousins if they could receive something of value back, like a draft pick, but because the Browns can't effectively eat a large chunk of Cousins's $40 million cap hit, he doesn't see a way forward.
"[The Falcons] got the money, they paid him the money, they're not getting anything back. They got 14 games for $100 million and appear to be fine holding him hostage," Ledbetter said. "This is like Russell Wilson [last offseason]. It was a contract that nobody was going to trade for. Cleveland doesn't have $40 million, more dead money to put in on a quarterback when they have Deshaun sitting there. They can't really trade for him. If the Falcons cut him loose, which is what he's asking for, then you can sign him for the minimum, a $1.2 [million] deal like Russell Wilson did with the Steelers, and go from there. That was the hope of the Browns at one point. As far as giving the Falcons something for him, I think that's a non-starter.
"It's untradeable. The Browns wouldn't give them a draft pick. There's no trade that we can come up with that works. ... Even if the Falcons agreed to pay the contract, they already paid the contract. The problem is the Browns taking the [salary cap] hit number, that's moving with him. So they can't take it on, there's no way to trade him."
Ledbetter said the only way he could see Cousins freeing himself is to renegotiate with the Falcons and give back money in the process, something that might not even be allowed with the NFL Players Association by-laws.
"It's messy, it's a bad situation. The only clean break is if they just punt and kick him to the curb and then he'd be available to Cleveland and everybody else for a minimum salary."
On paper, Cousins seems like a logical fit as a bridge quarterback for a Browns team that will likely select a potential franchise quarterback in the next two drafts.
In his Thursday mailbag, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer was a bit more open to the possibility that a trade could work out if Atlanta is open to eating some of the $27.5 million Cousins is due in 2025 in return for a mid-round draft pick.
Clearly the hurdles are significant, though, no matter how much Cousins enjoys a Northeast Ohio Chipotle.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Falcons Insider Lays Out Hurdles Preventing Kirk Cousins Trade to Browns.
