A little over a month ago, when Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry addressed the status of quarterback Deshaun Watson, he focused his assessment on his player’s health. Watson had missed the entire season due to a torn Achilles tendon, and the first priority was the quarterback’s health and recovery. After?
“Everything else we’ll address later,” Berry said.
That moment afterwards, and the options to facilitate the health and recovery of the franchise, are now exponentially more interesting. For the first time since Watson’s performance and health plummeted, taking the Browns’ 2024 season with it, the Browns may be presented with a realistic bridge out of the Watson era. And he could come from the same team that Cleveland outbid to acquire him in 2022.
Enter the Atlanta Falcons and now quarterback Kirk Cousins.
As crazy as it may sound, if the Browns are serious about creating competition for Watson in 2025, Cousins would present the combination of the most talented, experienced, cheap and scheme-appropriate player available. Of course, at the moment Cousins is not available. So there are some moving parts to consider here. Let’s review the logic, starting with…
Michael Penix Jr. plays well enough to make Kirk Cousins an afterthought
Everyone is already writing Cousins out of the Falcons script for good, but there’s one very important step that needs to be taken first. Simply put, Penix has to stay healthy and play well enough to prove that Cousins was definitely the problem over the final five weeks of the season. Because the simple truth is that he it was not The whole problem stemmed from the first nine games of the season, when the Falcons compiled a 6-3 record and Cousins’ touchdown-to-interception ratio was a viable 17 to 7. Was he perfect? No. But he couldn’t have anticipated that he would be benched just five games later.
Something clearly changed over the last five games, leading to Cousins making some inexplicable decisions with the ball and completely losing the trust of Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson. Rarely does that kind of total collapse occur for no discernible reason. Yet we are led to believe that is what is happening in Atlanta. If so, we’ll see the difference when Penix steps in as a starter, and then Cousins will be firmly erased from Atlanta’s future. Once that happens, the next step is…
Cousins forced to leave after the season
He could have handled his demotion with class, but Cousins doesn’t have to do the Falcons any favors by facilitating a trade. It wasn’t long ago that Atlanta made the trade decision to select Penix without alerting Cousins about the move until they were on the draft clock. Now he can make the business decision to force himself to become a free agent. And all he needs to do to make that happen is wait until the Falcons are pressed for March 16, 2025, when a $10 million salary guarantee for 2026 will kick in if Cousins is still on the roster.
Atlanta is already on the hook for a $27.5 million salary in 2025. It doesn’t make sense to add another $10 million to it. After making some calls to understand where this is going, I think a launch is the exact scenario that will play out in March, provided Penix proves it’s ready to take over. After that, the next important part for a Cousins and Browns union would be…
Browns conclude Watson should not continue as their undisputed starter
Going back to Berry’s press conference in November, the message with Watson seemed pretty clear. The Cleveland Think Tank Isn’t Just Going to Work nothing and crossing my fingers that everything suddenly changes with Watson in 2025. From what I’m told, the Browns have a plan to address the situation and it will become very evident in the offseason. First of all, they can’t cut it. As issues go, debating Watson’s release has been a waste of oxygen from the beginning. Such a move would generate a salary cap of $172.7 million in 2025.
Even if he were designated for a post-June 1 release (spreading the damage over two years), Cleveland would still take a $118.9 million hit in 2025. That means no matter how you cut Watson, you’d also have to cut half of the team just to absorb the salary cap problem. Ok, so they’re not going to cut it. That doesn’t mean he has to continue as the team’s starter. The cost is the cost. That’s built in no matter what. But football should be weighed on its own. Watson should be told that the starting job will be a competition, starting in the offseason. After …
Draft Cousins to a veteran minimum contract and sell the Browns as a playoff team with him at QB.
Frankly, this is the hardest part of the setup. I think Penix will play well enough to make Cousins obsolete in Atlanta; I think Cousins will force the Falcons to release him; and I think if the Browns’ think tank were brutally honest, they would admit it’s time to move on from Watson as the starter. But convincing Cousins that Cleveland is his best destination… will be a tough sell. First of all, because Watson will remain on the team, which will create a very uncomfortable quarterback room. Second, because this version of the Browns is arguably not as good as the 2023 team that made the playoffs under Joe Flacco. And finally, Cousins will likely have some options, especially with the Falcons paying him $27.5 million in 2025 and him being able to play for a veteran’s minimum salary for another team.
Even if you remove the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants from the pool of teams in need of quarterbacks (assuming each drafts a rookie), there are likely still other obvious bridge opportunities. That fits perfectly with the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts, who could look for a veteran starter this offseason to challenge Will Levis and Anthony Richardson, respectively. But it could also end up including the New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams. The other possible landing sites are big unknowns at this time. So is the question of which coaching staff and front offices still view Cousins as starting material, or whether he fits into their scheme or playing environment.
There are many variables for the Browns to achieve a Cousins union. But it is a worthwhile pursuit at this stage. Especially if you think his five-game implosion isn’t a permanent step toward a talent cliff. One way or another, Cleveland has to find a way to get through the remaining years of Watson’s contract. And unless there’s a rookie the Browns love in the upcoming draft, getting through the 2025 season on Cousins’ minimum salary is the best way to do it while still being competitive on the field.
Putting it all together wouldn’t be easy. But when it comes to the Browns and Kirk Cousins, what’s been going on lately?