Kirk Cousins' Trade Value Named Factor in Falcons Week 15 QB Decision

ESPN's Bill Barnwell argued the Atlanta Falcons could continue starting quarterback Kirk Cousins in 2024 to help them for the 2025 season.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Falcons fell out of an NFC playoff spot in Week 14. But there's still four weeks of football remaining, and the Falcons play just one team with a winning record over the final stretch of the season.

ESPN's Bill Barnwell argued, though, that the Falcons could already be thinking about 2025.

On Monday, Barnwell released an article entitled, "2025 NFL QB Market: Nine teams that could make offseason moves." In the piece, Barnwell placed his nine chosen teams into tiers. The Falcons were under his "Teams that will make a QB change" tier.

Barnwell, though, doesn't anticipate a change coming this season. He argued if the Falcons do that, then they will find it more difficult to trade current starter Kirk Cousins this offseason.

"The Falcons also have a vested interest in wanting to prove that Cousins is still an NFL-caliber quarterback: They need to trade him this offseason," Barnwell wrote. "In addition to paying him $62.5 million this season, they are on the hook for a $27.5 million guaranteed base salary next season. If he is on the roster through March 17, Atlanta (or whichever team acquires him) would guarantee an additional $10 million roster bonus for 2026, bringing the total compensation to $100 million for two years of work.

"If the Falcons bench Cousins, there's a real chance they have to eat money to trade him this offseason or just cut him outright to avoid triggering that additional $10 million bonus. If that happens, they will have paid him $90 million for one year of work."

In that scenario, Barnwell called it an "embarrassing piece of business" for the Falcons.

It should be noted, though, that putting aside next season, Barnwell still thinks Cousins should be Atlanta's starting quarterback in Week 15. The ESPN analyst went into great detail about how Cousins has been a little unlucky in recent weeks. He's also seen a few elite defenses over the past month.

The schedule gets easier for the Falcons in Week 15 with a trip to the Las Vegas Raiders. Cousins, though, may have to show a lot more in that matchup to remain Atlanta's starting quarterback with the playoffs still on the line.

Even if it tanks his trade value, the Falcons can't continue to trust Cousins if he doesn't turn things around quickly.

"The only reason the Falcons would be willing to tank Cousins' potential trade value would be if they felt like the quarterback was tanking the franchise's chances of making it to the playoffs," Barnwell added. "I'm not sure we're at that point, but we're also not that far off."

Regardless of how the season ends for Cousins, though, the ESPN analyst predicted the Falcons to move on from Cousins to start Michael Penix Jr. behind center next season. Barnwell sees Atlanta either trading or releasing Cousins this offseason.