Kirk Cousins Could Be Pursuing Next Chance to Facilitate Move From Falcons

It's clear Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins is persistent. Only someone with a very unique drive could respond to the amount of adversity Cousins has gone through in his NFL career.

But perhaps more important than persistence, Cousins also appears to be armed with one of the top agents and public relations teams in the league. That could explain why the quarterback landed a $180 million deal coming off an Achilles tendon tear.

That PR team may be at it again as we speak.

Cousins is still employeed by the Falcons, a fact that is likely driving the 36-year-old wild. The quarterback has been persistent in his pursuit to be released this offseason.

First, Cousins suggested in an interview with NFL personality Kay Adams the team benched him without publicly disclosing he had injuries to his throwing elbow and shoulder late in 2024. After the revelation in early February, Cousins refused to do any more media interviews, leaving the Falcons to fend for themselves.

From Cousins' perspective, this accomplished two things -- it explained to other teams why he fell off a cliff at the end of the season, which was going to help Cousins' market. Ironically, that could help the Falcons trade the veteran quarterback this spring.

It also created discord between Cousins and the Falcons organization. In theory, the more discord, the more likely the Falcons just simply cut their losses and move on from Cousins, enabling him to become a free agent.

After that didn't work, Cousins tried the softer approach. The let me talk directly with the man in charge and appeal to his heartstrings approach, via in a meeting with Falcons owner Arthur Blank.

The only problem? Blank gave Cousins his version of Roger Murtaugh's, "Go spit, Riggs."

"The Falcons brass has said it'd do what's best for the team at QB," reported SI's Albert Breer.

The Falcons allowed the 4 pm ET deadline on Cousins' 2026 roster bonus to pass on March 15 with the quarterback still on their roster. That means, when all is said and done, the Falcons may pay Cousins $100 million for 14 games.

With the move, the Falcons seem serious about entering the 2025 season with Cousins as their backup. At least, the Falcons want to appear to be serious so they maximize the quarterback's trade value.

To do that, it may take significant time for a trade to develop. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Cousins is likely to stay on the Falcons roster until after the 2025 NFL Draft.

Remember, though, Cousins is persistent. He's not done trying to wiggle his way out of Atlanta. And now, he may be back to playing hard ball.

Netflix teased the premiere of Season 2 of its documentary series, "Quarterback" on March 19. Just as he was in Season 1, Cousins will be one of the three quarterbacks featured on Season 2.

Few other details are currently available. But presumably, anything from when he first signed his $180 million deal with Atlanta to even now could be included.

Let's review what that could entail:

Well, there was the tampering investigation that started after Cousins' first press conference with the team. Then, the Falcons reportedly angered the franchise quarterback with the selection of Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8 overall.

Over the summer, Cousins continued to rehab from his torn Achilles tendon and started the season slowly in part because of the injury. Then, he set a franchise record with 509 passing yards during a Week 5 overtime victory versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

But that's not even the juciest part of what the documentary could show. Beginning on Nov. 10, Cousins began a remarkable decline that, again, he later explained was caused by injury. But after the point he says the injury occurred, Cousins kept playing for five more weeks.

What details of that injury could be in the documentary? And how will Netflix portray the signal caller's Dec. 17 benching?

Even if half of these things aren't in the documentary, it could get awkward quickly between Cousins and the Falcons. It was already set to be awkward if he returns as a $40 million backup.

The Netflix documentary will only make things worse.

No, Cousins didn't suddenly agree to a camera crew following him around since the benching. He undoubtably agreed to be in the documentary again before knowing he would need a new team this offseason.

But this all still feels like part of Cousins' master plan to get out of Atlanta. Could he have a say in the final edit of the documentary that paints the Falcons in a negative light?

Maybe he doesn't have final say in the editing room but wants us all to believe he does?

It's hard to know anything for sure with so few details about the series other than the Netflix trailer. Maybe that's just what Cousins wants too.

Some Falcons fans and pundits viewed the decision to keep Cousins passed the March 15 deadline as a victory for the team. It's a sign that there's belief in the league Cousins has trade value.

That's true, and ultimately, I do now believe the Falcons will get some kind of trade compensation for Cousins.

But the Falcons haven't won anything yet. The game of chicken is likely to continue, and Cousins may have just upped the ante.