After the worst 5-game stretch of his career, Kirk Cousins has been benched by the Atlanta Falcons. Things haven’t gone as planned after the quarterback signed a four-year, $180 million contract this past off-season, and the team will now turn to rookie Michael Penix Jr. to try and salvage the 2024 season during the final weeks.
Could The Titans Take A Chance On Kirk Cousins?
What does the future hold for Cousins? Can the Falcons make a trade work financially? And if he is playing elsewhere in 2025, which teams have the best chance of landing the 36-year-old?
Atlanta will have to eat some of the owed money, regardless. Should they release Kirk Cousins this coming off-season, they will be hit with a $65 million dead cap number, which would be the third-highest figure in NFL history. This makes it an unlikely solution, and things would be different if the two sides were to part ways via trade. In that case, the Falcons’ dead cap hit would be a more palatable $37.5 million, with the receiving team footing the rest of the bill to reach that $65 million mark.
Michael Penix Jr. has been named the Falcons’ starting quarterback moving forward.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 18, 2024
There are betting odds available at BetOnline regarding which team might take a chance on the aging quarterback.
The favorite by a slim margin is the Tennessee Titans. The team has been on the search for a long-term solution to their quarterback situation for years now. Though an aging veteran like Cousins doesn’t exactly fit that bill, he could be a stop gap for a year or two while the team tries its hand at selecting more young quarterbacks in the draft. The Titans are listed at +400 to land him.
| Tennessee Titans | +400 |
| Seattle Seahawks | +450 |
| Cleveland Browns | +500 |
| New Orleans Saints | +600 |
| New York Giants | +800 |
Not far behind are the Seattle Seahawks, with a designation of +450. The contract of current quarterback Geno Smith has just one remaining year, and the team could look to cut ties this coming off-season. Cousins would again be a placeholder while they look for their QB of the future, as he would be for essentially any team that decides to take a chance on trading for him.
There are 15 teams listed by BetOnline as possible betting options for Kirk Cousins destinations. The Browns (+500), Saints (+600), and Giants (+800) round out the top five, and some more interesting options further down the board include the Dolphins (+2500) and 49ers (+3300).
