and didn't tell Kirk because they didn't want to mush their only opportunuty to improve now/stabilize he organization for a few years. Or B. Cousins' gaffe regarding the tampering forced the Falcons to make a choice between helping Kirk immediately or take their shot at Kirk's successor with the only foreseeable clear window (there are many reasons for this, which should be evident without explaining).
They had more incentive to pull the trigger in this scenario, which leads us back to A. If the Falcons cut Cousins before the '26 season, it saves them 32 million in cap space.
I suppose if the Falcons felt they would have a 1st round pick in '25, they may have played with the idea of getting a piece to help Kirk this year... but they are clearly betting on not having that pick, and not picking a successor in '25 (which already made a situation where you're absolutely banking on drafting a QB with one year to figure it out plus an QB aging out of the game and the contract extremely hairy) and opting for the Rodgers/Love scenario with time to know and a pupil/successor, having two years to get ready/know if he's the right guy.
One thing I feel extremely confident in saying is this... Cousins probably feels duped and wouldn't have signed this deal if he knew the club was planning on cutting bait half way into the contract and pulling for him to decline after two years while his successor was improving enough to Wally Pipp him. I also feel extremely confident saying Arthur pushed all his final chips in on this deal. No player will or should feel comfortable signing a deal with the Falcons again as long as the current braintrust is in place.
So I believe it was B but because they had some insurance in fine print on back of the A card. They didn't want this outcome, but were more than happy to deploy the card associated with A if things didn't go right. Like I said, I think Kirk accidently forced the Falcons' hand in his first interview as a member of the team.
If I was too verbose or redundant, sorry... I was speak-texting this while driving. 😉
They had more incentive to pull the trigger in this scenario, which leads us back to A. If the Falcons cut Cousins before the '26 season, it saves them 32 million in cap space.
I suppose if the Falcons felt they would have a 1st round pick in '25, they may have played with the idea of getting a piece to help Kirk this year... but they are clearly betting on not having that pick, and not picking a successor in '25 (which already made a situation where you're absolutely banking on drafting a QB with one year to figure it out plus an QB aging out of the game and the contract extremely hairy) and opting for the Rodgers/Love scenario with time to know and a pupil/successor, having two years to get ready/know if he's the right guy.
One thing I feel extremely confident in saying is this... Cousins probably feels duped and wouldn't have signed this deal if he knew the club was planning on cutting bait half way into the contract and pulling for him to decline after two years while his successor was improving enough to Wally Pipp him. I also feel extremely confident saying Arthur pushed all his final chips in on this deal. No player will or should feel comfortable signing a deal with the Falcons again as long as the current braintrust is in place.
So I believe it was B but because they had some insurance in fine print on back of the A card. They didn't want this outcome, but were more than happy to deploy the card associated with A if things didn't go right. Like I said, I think Kirk accidently forced the Falcons' hand in his first interview as a member of the team.
If I was too verbose or redundant, sorry... I was speak-texting this while driving. 😉
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