Kirk Cousins Wielding No-Trade Clause to Avoid Being 'Blindsided' by NFL Draft Again

Any possible Cousins trade could wait until after the draft after what happened with the Falcons and Michael Penix Jr. last year.

Cousins doesn't want history to repeat itself / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

There are only a few dominoes left in the NFL quarterback market this offseason. Multiple teams are waiting on Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson to make their free agency decisions. On the trade market, there is only one big name left who could be moved— Kirk Cousins, currently the No. 2 QB on the Atlanta Falcons' depth chart.

Cousins's huge and somewhat complicated contract makes any potential transaction difficult to forecast. Further complicating matters? The veteran QB has a no-trade clause that he can use to block a trade that he does not like. It seems unlikely he'd utilize it, given the Falcons have made it crystal clear that Michael Penix Jr. is the starter in Atlanta and Cousins wants the chance to start. But it remains as a negotiating tool— one that Cousins could wield to avoid particular circumstances.

Reporting on the situation on Monday morning, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer wrote Cousins wants to avoid getting traded into a situation where he could be "blindsided" like the Falcons blindsided him with the Penix Jr. pick. In fact, he's dead-set enough on avoiding it that he may force Atlanta to delay a trade decision until after the draft.

"Why would Cousins block a trade to a place where he can start? My understanding it would be chiefly to avoid the situation he found himself in last April when he was blindsided by Atlanta’s decision to take Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth pick," Breer said. "And that could be where the draft position of the aforementioned teams comes into play.

"Rather than taking anyone’s word for it, Cousins has already signaled to teams that he would likely want to wait to see what happens over draft weekend before accepting a trade. In a way, that should also work for the teams, allowing them to go through a full draft process—and make decisions on guys such as Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Ole Miss’s Jaxson Dart independent of Cousins’s destination."

Breer additionally noted that Cousins's camp would be open to working out a trade ahead of the draft as long as that team would agree to not drafting a QB in the first round. Which seems like a difficult contingency to lock down, but anything can happen in the four weeks leading up to the draft.

From the sounds of it Cousins not only wants to go to a team where he can start, but an organization that is committed to starting him immediately. With those parameters the list of potential suitors is not long. The Falcons seem ready to wait, though, and keep Cousins for as long as circumstances dictate.

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