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This makes a lot of sense, especially if Bill Belichick is hired as Atlanta’s next coach. It appears to be trending in that direction given that less than a week after parting ways with the New England Patriots, Belichick is reportedly set for a second interview with Falcons officials.
Belichick won six Super Bowls in 24 seasons with the Patriots, is 26 regular-season victories from surpassing Don Shula as the winningest regular-season coach of all time and will turn 72 in April. The Falcons also have some nice pieces on their roster and owner Arthur Blank, whose team blew a 25-point lead to Belichick’s Patriots with 18 minutes left in Super Bowl LI, will turn 82 in September.
That makes it unlikely that Belichick or Blank are going to want to take a long-term approach and see if the Falcons can develop a quarterback. Signing Cousins to a multi-year, fully guaranteed contract would come with risk — Atlanta has $26.3 million in salary-cap space, according to the Over the Cap website — but it’s one the Falcons might be willing to take.
A move to Cousins also would enable the team to focus on a position other than quarterback with the eighth pick in the first round of the draft.
There are family reasons why Cousins and his wife, Julie, might like this idea. Julie is from the Atlanta area and the couple was married in Georgia in 2014. Kirk’s father, Don, runs a church in Orlando, Fla., which is only about a one-hour flight from Atlanta.
The Falcons are coming off a 7-10 finish, but in each of the past three years the franchise has used a first-round pick on an offensive weapon (tight end Kyle Pitts at No. 4 in 2021, wide receiver Drake London at No. 8 in 2022, and running back Bijan Robinson at No. 8 in 2023.) What they don’t have is a quarterback.
Cousins doesn’t have much of a playoff track record so that might be an issue for Belichick, but it shouldn’t surprise anyone if Cousins ends up in Atlanta.
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