Schefter Says Falcons Asked Team to Eat $20M of Kirk Cousins' Contract in Trade Talks

The Atlanta Falcons have not yet been able to find a team that wants to trade for veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins, but they're requirements aren't doing them any favors.

During Tuesday's episode of The Adam Schefter Podcast (31:00 mark), ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the Falcons asked another team to take on $20 million of his contract as part of a potential trade agreement.

"It's gonna take some money. The Falcons, despite what they've said, have asked other teams to pay some of his contract," Schefter explained. "And I know that they denied that they asked for $20 million from a team, but I went back to that team and they said, 'Yes, no, that's accurate.' So, just for the record, it is accurate that they asked for $20 million initially, and they do want teams to pay a certain guaranteed portion of Kirk Cousins' contract before they trade him."

The Falcons signed Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract prior to the 2024 season. Unfortunately, the partnership was ill-fated from the start after Atlanta used the No. 8 pick in the 2024 draft to select quarterback Michael Penix Jr.

In 14 starts, Cousins threw a career-high 16 interceptions, which led the entire NFL. He was benched for the final three games and replaced by Penix as the starting quarterback, and the Falcons committed to forging ahead with the youngster for the 2025 campaign.

Instead of releasing Cousins and losing him for nothing, Atlanta chose to explore trading him. However, that has proven difficult without many quarterback-needy teams on the market.

It could be a while before the Falcons find a landing spot for Cousins amid their financial constraints, so the 36-year-old will be backing up Penix for the time being.