There’s been a lot of rumblings as of late when it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers potentially trading for Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins, especially if the team is unable to sign free agent QB Aaron Rodgers for whatever reason. Those rumblings concerning Cousins are likely to get louder this week, especially with it looking like he won’t be present for the first set of Falcons OTA practices.
According to Falcons HC Raheem Morris, Cousins is not in attendance for the start of the team’s voluntary OTAs.
“I did not see him today,” Morris said during his Tuesday press conference. “[He] did not show up in the meetings, so I did not see him today.”
Cousins, according to multiple reports, has a no-trade clause in his contract. That noted, it’s reasonable to assume that he would welcome a trade to a team that would give him a shot at being its starter. Obviously, there are few teams that fit that description at this point, but the Steelers could certainly be on that compact list, especially if they are unable to sign Rodgers.
Cousins’ contract would certainly be a point of discussion when it comes to any team trading for him, especially since his $10 million roster bonus in 2026 became fully guaranteed in the middle of March. That guaranteed roster bonus aside, the fact that Cousins is scheduled to earn a base salary of $27.5 million in 2025 could result in a team or teams asking the Falcons to pay a portion of that as part of trade terms.
Here is something else to consider when it comes to the Falcons possibly trading Cousins in the extremely near future: it would make a lot of sense for the Falcons to wait to trade him until after June 1, which is obviously not too far from today. Why? Well, the Falcons would be able to defer $25 million in dead money against the cap until 2026 should they trade Cousins after June 1.
If the Falcons trade Cousins prior to June 1, they would incur a $37.5 million dead money charge in 2025. Waiting until after June 1 would result in the Falcons incurring just a $12.5 million dead money charge in 2025. So, from a 2025 salary cap perspective, you can see why it makes a lot of sense for the Falcons to wait to trade Cousins after June 1 as they would get more salary cap relief at least for this season by doing so.
For whatever it’s worth, the Falcons, according to the NFLPA, only have $5,347,196 in 2025 salary cap space as of Tuesday morning. They also really don’t have very many restructuring candidates who would create sizable salary cap space clearings moving forward. Getting at least $20 million of Cousins’ $27.5 million base salary off their books, and thus off their 2025 cap as well, will likely need to happen at some point soon.
As I pointed out recently, I think we can expect the Steelers to spend at least an additional $40 million in cash this offseason based on their history in that department as it relates to CBA rules. Acquiring Cousins at around $20 million base salary for 2025 certainly would help fill some of that spending need.
At this point of the offseason, and especially with OTAs now underway around the NFL, the trade market for Cousins probably isn’t great. Sure, the Falcons could hold on to Cousins longer and hope that maybe another team sustains an injury to its starter, but that would be quite a gamble.
Obviously, should the Steelers still have Rodgers at the top of their veteran quarterback wish list right now, trading for Cousins is unlikely to happen until they get some finality when it comes to their No. 1 choice. For all we know, however, the Steelers might be stringing Rodgers along, instead of the opposite, in hopes of working out favorable trade conditions for Cousins.
The Steelers have said all offseason that they plan to have four quarterbacks under contract once training camp gets underway. As of right now, the start of the team’s 2025 OTA practices, they only have three quarterbacks under contract in Mason Rudolph, Skylar Thompson, and rookie Will Howard, the team’s sixth-round draft pick this year out of Ohio State. In short, another quarterback will land in Pittsburgh before the team arrives at Latrobe for the start of its 2025 training camp.
The longer that Rodgers remains unsigned, and especially if that waiting extends into the start of June, the possibility and plausibility that the Steelers might ultimately trade for Cousins could increase. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if Cousins remains away from the Falcons’ OTA practices these next few weeks.
In closing, should the Steelers trade for Cousins, don’t expect such a transaction to be made until after June 1. Additionally, I fully expect that if the Steelers do ultimately trade for Cousins that they will insist on the Falcons paying some (around $7.5 million?) of his 2025 base salary.
