DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Player News Continued.....

IMO, this is stupid if true. However, they might be putting it out there to fast track a trade instead of an outright release.

What QB would you rather have as a backup? The Falcons 2nd year QB got hurt 4 straight years in college. Getting rid of Cousins means losing other players, too because of the contract, much like our situation with Myles and a potential trade. Pay $10M more for a backup (who may very well have to start at some point during the season.) or Lose $65M in cap space and need to find another quality backup QB. The Falcons out is next year. The NFC South still looks pretty winnable this season.

While the bonus becomes guaranteed the 15th, I don't think it gets paid right away and could still move with a trade.

Wonder how much work that "up to" is doing.

Nice combo with Chuba Hubbard. Interesting, and perhaps telling, because they drafted Jonathan Brooks last year.

A bigger back to help move Hurts with the Tush Push.

I feel like Zeitler has been playing since I was in middle school. He’s the Al Horford of the NFL.

The $10M next year isn't a normal bonus. As of now, he doesn't have any guaranteed salary on his contract for 2026. As of now, he has been paid his $50,000,000 singing bonus (which is prorated over, '24/'25/'26/'27), his 2024 salary of $12,500,000, a $10,000,000 roster bonus which became guaranteed almost immediately after last year's league start. So, he stands at $72,500,000 today. He is guaranteed his 2026 salary right now, so he will be getting another $27,500,000. This is where it gets interesting for teams wanting Cousins.

Atlanta is on the hook for that $27,500,000. If they release him before Sunday, any team that signs him to a one year deal can get him at league minimum $1,200,000. This is prorated against the Falcons salary guarantee.. so they would then be on the hook for the remaining $26,300,000(+2025 $10M roster bonus and $12.5M prorated signing bonus). BUT, that is where the salary and roster bonuses end. They would then owe the remaining '26/'27 $25,000,000 salary cap money in 2025( and 2026 if post June 1st designated as well), which is true whether they cut him or trade him.

So, here are the options for other teams:

Wait it out and see if they cut him, which then gets you Cousins at a bargain basement price, but for only one season, then he becomes an unrestricted free agent. He is the ultimate one year stop gap, OR pay him his final contract in 2026, which will include all the bonuses that Atlanta has already paid him through 2027 and beyond.

Or

Trade for Cousins, possibly for a 6th/7th round draft pick and you will pay for Cousins $10,000,000 roster bonus in 2026 as well as owing him $35,000,000 in salary in 2025, repeat in 2026 if you don't cut him after the league year ends/repeat in 2027. The difference between the Falcons and a team that trades for him is this:

2025, the Falcons get off the hook for his 2025 salary, only owe the signing bonus money of $37,500,000. New team will now be on the hook for $35,000,000 + $10,000,000 roster bonus, but will have the option of keeping him in 2026 and 2027 without any dead money if they decide to part ways with him.

Here's the real kicker... the Falcons can structure a trade however they want to. If they want to negotiate for a 3rd rounder instead of a 7th rounder, they can agree to take on some of that 2025 salary as well, which they are currently on the hook for anyway. So a potential trade could look more like this:

Atlanta gets Browns #94 3rd round draft pick 2025. Agree to pay $30,000,000 of the $37,500,000 2025 salary
Browns get Kirk Cousins with the following money repercussions:
2025 Salary $7,500,000 + 2025 roster bonus that was guaranteed in 2024 (if the Falcons don't throw this into the trade deal)
2026 Salary $35,000,000 + $10,000,000 roster bonus which became guaranteed on March 17th. Option to cut him before league year begins and only owe $10,000,000 roster bonus as 2026 salary is not guaranteed
2027 Salary $35,000,000 + $10,000,000 roster bonus that doesn't become guaranteed until the 5th day of 2027 league year, not the 2026 league year.

So, trading for him gives the team that trades a lot more options down the road if structured properly.

At the end of the day, the Falcons owe him $45,000,000 in 2025, $10,000,000 in 2026, then can get out. They stand to lose an extra $25,000,000 salary cap in 2025 if they cut him on top of the salary, etc... They can alleviate some of that by designating him a post June 1st, carry the full cap hit until June 1st, then gain some back for 2025 and move the remaining hit into 2026.

This is why I think there are some negotiations ongoing, maybe with Cleveland and possibly Pittsburgh.

That is a great post with great information of what is actually happening behind the scenes and the real decisions being made. I am sure the game of chicken is happening between the teams mentioned but more prominently the Browns to see who blinks first. The Browns may have real interest in Russell Wilson but that also could be used to show the Falcons they are not blinking and not trading for Cousins. Will be interesting how it plays out.

That was quick.

If the Browns go for Cousins they’re stupid beyond belief.

9 INT vs. 1 TD in his last 5 games.
There’s a reason the Falcons want to move on because his level dropped significantly at the end of 2024, but that can of course be ignored by the smartest guys in the room if they panic as usual.

.

I don’t think we are pursuing cousins, so why worry about it? Do you ever post anything positive about this football team? Seriously. Buzzkill Flo should be your username (had to change my post, got you mixed up with Steve because you’re both chronic killers of da buzzzz).

You will see tons of buzz posts when this organization starts to do well thought out and sensible decisions.

Look at our current situation. Do you see a clear plan for us moving forward right now?
Do you see any significant upgrade from last season?

Probably only two of our draft picks will upgrade our roster apart from late FA signings, if we’re lucky.
So right now today we’re at best at the same level as last season, probably worse if the FO can’t upgrade our roster by finding two gems at the draft and hopefully one of them is a a decent QB.

The Browns went 3-14.... signed a QB to a deal that gave away 3 first round draft picks and 230 million in assets. Come on man! When seeing all of this progress how can you not be positive!?

Cousins sucked in his last five games yet people post on this board how he would be the best answer in the FA market. Pointing that out is unforgivable! How dare you!

That is a fact. It is also a fact that 9 games into 2024 the Falcons were 6-3 with 2 wins over the NFC South Champions Tampa Bay. Cousins had 15 td to 6 picks. He tried to play through an injury and struggled in the next 5 games to a 1-4 record with 1 td and 9 picks and the Falcons decided to switch to the 1st round rookie QB.

Which Cousins is the real Cousins, I think Cousins is a QB that can get a team to the playoffs but not win a Super Bowl. If the Falcons release him and the Browns pick him up I believe if he was QB and the defense can get back to being top 10 like 2023 this Browns team could get back to 10 to 11 wins. But the ceiling would remain the same as 2020 and 2023 with 1 and done or 1 win in the playoffs. I would take that in combination with the team trying to find their future Franchise QB this year or next. One other fact is Cousins had his best 2 statistical years with Kevin Stefanski as his O coordinator. QB ratings of 99.7 and 107.4 with 30 td to 10 picks in 2018 with 70.1 completion % and 4,298 yards. Then followed that up in 2019 with 26 td to 6 picks with 69.1 completion % and 3,603 yards.

If nothing else he knows and understand Stefanski's offense better than anyone and would be great to have a young QB sit and watch him run that offense.

I have seen rumors that he was playing through a shoulder injury too. I have seen nothing to confirm that and I do wonder who it is that has been floating that story. For all we know it could be Cousin's people and if I were a FA looking to sign another contract I would probably be floating that story as well.

Cousins said it.

That makes perfect sense just as I said it would.

j/c...

Your rhetorical question is the answer why trading for Cousins is an unwise move.

We don’t know atm his real level and in our position, with loads of holes in the roster, no starting QB, not even a decent backup, it would be stupid to gamble on a player in his age who’s on a steep downward slope career wise.

If he was supposed to be our backup QB and cost us the normal rate for a backup it maybe would be ok but that’s probably not the case unless Pickett is supposed to be the backup to the backup.

I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m wrong because it would be a typical Andrew Berry move to making the Browns having four mediocre or injured QBs that will cost the organization a fortune in both draft pick and salaries.

That’s cheap, and a distortion of the discussion, because the DW trade has little to do with what I was saying.

Go get flacco and call it a day.

I agree. Who else is there if we don't get Cousins?

How so lamp? In every Browns fans mind all of those factor
How so lamp? Realistically can you tell me what's changed since the end of last season that would make fans feel more hopeful? You don't think the albatross around the neck of this team known as DW is a constant on the mind of fans and will be as long as he still has a locker at the facility? Because what I'm speaking of his all of the ingredients and reasons that are contributing to the negative mind set some Browns fans currently hold. After Cousin's last five games can you tell me why that avenue looks so hopeful? Some fans have become so desperate that they think any of the first three rated QB's in this draft is fine. We both know that's unrealistic. Some seem accepting of any of several FA QB's out there. We both know the answer to the QB position isn't "insert name here".

So you have those who feel so desperate they think damned near anything is the answer and sugar coat where this team is at the moment or people who realize nothing has changed since the end of last season and spell that out. They don't want a retread who looked like crap during his last five games because they don't think that's an improvement. They want what they see as the right QB draft pick or don't waste those resources.

I'm not sure when you look at where the Browns are at this moment and the current FA options how you expect anyone to be optimistic right now. Some have managed to do so but is it realistic or are they simply fooling themselves?

Wentz maybe.

That’s how I see it too.
Totally agree. Why fool ourself when nothing really has changed since last season.

I can’t see how paying Garrett $40m/season will long term help us. He’s last seasons DPotY but despite that we only won 3 games. Without significant improvements on our D line I expect a similar result defensive wise as in 2024.

When it comes to finding a QB in FA is even worse. None of the available like Cousins, Wilson or //insert name// has shown qualities in 2024 to make me believe that we can win our division. My only hope in that department is that we draw the jackpot on our second pick or wait until the draft in 2026.

I hope that our FO is wise enough to rebuild our roster slowly and long term. When the time is right trade Garrett and Ward. Forget about an old trouble maker, that’s also coming from a serious injury, like Aiyuk. For me he’s more of a OBJ than a Justin Jefferson type of signing.

Spend our resources on the O and D line. Strengthen our backbone, then we can look at playmakers in the offense.

Unfortunately Berry and Stefanski is under pressure and they need significant result improvements short term.
That’s the opposite to what’s the most sensible long term solution for the Cleveland Browns organization, at least from my perspective.

My post wasn't so much to say I agree with you about everything. Just that I understand the reasoning for why you feel as you do. I really don't have an issue with those who are optimistic about the future nor those who are pessimistic.

Some people feel that optimism is all they have to cling to and hope Berry can turn the ship around. I get that.

Some look at it as Berry is the one who got us to where we are now and Berry has given them no cause to give them optimism. I get that too.

And the 2 are not mutually exclusive
I feel Berry is the one who got us to where we are now and Berry has given me no cause to give optimism
But I have no choice but to hope Berry can turn the ship around

I understand that as well. It's like something my dad taught me..... "Hope for the best but be prepared for the worse. That way if the worse happens you won't be so disappointed."

I fully support your view despite my skepticism about Berry. Hope is the best a human can have when the future is dark.

I'm very interested to see how these two deals play out in terms of what CIN will be able to do with building other parts of their team. Their interior line is terrible IMO and their defense (even with Hendrickson) was one of the worst in the NFL. It will be great for Cincy to have their QB/WR combos set up for a next handful of years but wonder how that will dictate decisions elsewhere.

The Bengals fired most of their defensive coaches and their oline
Coach..so it sounds it was the scheme not the players that hindered
The defense last year.
The Bengals offense is so lethal . You don't need a 85 Bears defense
To get to the SB

Yeah... but you need something.

They went 9-8 with Burrow and Chase absolutely going OFF last year. And the few games Chase's statline wasn't ridiculous, it was because Higgins was going off.

Bengals were ranked top ten last year (#9 per quick google search). I thought they'd be top 5 because they did end up finding their running game second half of the season.

Defense ranked 25.

You are correct. You don't, but you need an avg to above avg one. It feels like for the past 3-4 years Joe Burrow and that offense has struggled early on..... and if that continues, the defense might be a liability when it comes down to the end of the season trying to stay healthy and make the playoffs in a tough AFC.

Yeah I agree completely. Their offense was absolutely lethal last year, but how many games did Burrow play absolutely lights out, where the Bengals ended up losing?

Just looked it up: Bengals lost 4 games last year where they scored 33+ points. That's insane.

It goes to show you can have an absolute behemoth of an offense, but still fall prey to losses when your D doesn't get it done.

It's also not about scheme either. Everyone was amazed at how Anarumo was a nobody who had the defense playing at a high level when he first came on board. They lost a significant amount of personnel and then all of a sudden, sucked. It was definitely a talent issue, not a scheme issue.

The salary cap numbers don't matter do they?

As the salary cap increases so do player salaries. That's how it was intended to work. And Jaylen Waddle is nowhere close to the WR that either Chase or Higgins are.

It’s pretty good draft for d-line and o-line depth. Might be able to build back fairly cheap if they hit on their picks this year.

Probably not for long. Hill's contract is over in 2026 and Waddle just signed a rookie contract extension that is supposed to pay him through 2028. At the time it was a very nice extension taking him to $28.25M per year, which was good until a slurry of top WRs started the dominos falling in 2024. Higgins average per year is only $500k more than Waddle. Chase took it to a whole other level, beating #2 Justin Jefferson by $5.25M per year. Although Hill was also 30 when he signed, compared to Chace being 25, so there is that as well.

These contracts keep amazing me.. higher and higher.. I don't know where it will end.

Yikes. I wonder what those salaries and NFL ticket prices are going to be by the time our new stadium is built.

Not sure many in Cleveland would say that he was even above average.

A new Steeler villain.

Ironically enough, right after the Browns tossed him to the trash.

How will we ever replace all those INT's he made as a Brown????


Oh wait two years 22 games played 12 games missed and ZERO INT's I think we found another weak spot in the Steelers D.

But, but, but, he played for the Chiefs, an excellent organization. He won Super Bowls. We need leadership like that on our team.

I find it odd that a team with much more success than the Browns want someone this FO discarded and people act like they're the fools.

Wouldn’t be the first time. Joe Haden went there and a DL we had was signed by them too.

Cam Heyward not digging the Rodgers Drama

I found this kinda amusing.

Unless we hit on a QB in the draft, and that doesn't work by an "insert name here" scenario, how are our options any better?

I have no idea what options the Browns have. I have no idea what they're thinking, who or who not they're considering to sign in the FA market nor who they are considering at the #2 position in the draft. If you have any actual insight to those things please let me know. Actually that Tweet about the Steelers doesn't include all of their options either.

I like that the steelers want to be cheap and still win, until the right guy comes along.

The details of the Tee Higgins contract are very favorable to the Bengals and give them a lot of flexibility.



https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/inside-the-tee-higgins-deal

DAMN I was hoping he resigned with us.

details....

Glad we didn't sign him, but never really thought it was a realistic possibility.

Or they might not, if they see a QB they like who’ll be available when they pick. This is a weird draft at the top, considering all the particulars.

Not a good QB class, then you have the number of teams who need one, and the number of veteran quarterbacks seen as “bridge”.

I read he wanted 20 mil. Glad someone else paid him.

Yep. Apparently we weren’t in the sweepstakes. Ever.
Which old QBs remain, besides Flacco?

I could see them drafting Hunter as an enticement to land Cousins in a trade. No fast-starting young QB to compete with, a couple more line pieces and a RB in the draft plus Hunter. That might look to Cousins.

I agree, all the retreads come off like waving a white flag. Cousins is the only one who offers more than a 20% chance of breaking even. But not much more.

Really the Watson experience is something the team never, ever wants to repeat. Affecting on and off the field. Need a QB in the long haul as well as one that has great character. Watson era is over but the team need to really make it official.

Cam Ward is back on the menu!