Last year, the Raiders had a clause in Jimmy Garoppolo’s contract that allowed them to opt out if his foot injury kept him from passing a physical before the season began.
This year, Kirk Cousins mentioned during his first press conference in Atlanta that he had passed a physical for everything except his Achilles tendon injury. He’ll need to pass a separate physical for his Achilles later.
The Falcons drafted quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick, which raised a question: Can the Falcons cancel Cousins’ contract if he doesn’t pass a physical by a certain deadline?
Unlike the Raiders last year, the Falcons don’t have an escape clause. However, there’s one very specific exception.
According to a source familiar with the contract, Cousins’ $50 million signing bonus requires him to pass a physical, but the pre-existing Achilles injury is excluded — as long as he continues rehab under the team’s medical staff’s supervision.
As long as Cousins follows the instructions of the team doctor and head athletic trainer regarding his Achilles injury, the Falcons are responsible for paying him the full $50 million.
However, this doesn’t mean that the Falcons and Cousins are stuck together forever. With only $27.5 million in salary owed to Cousins in 2025, it wouldn’t be difficult to find another team interested in him if both sides decide to part ways after one season.
(Cousins has a no-trade clause.) While the dead-money charge for a trade before June 1 would be $37.5 million, the Falcons would avoid $37.5 million in additional guarantees to Cousins. Also, if they believe Penix is ready after just one year, having their starting quarterback under a rookie contract makes it easier to handle the Cousins cap charge.
However, they would still have paid him $62.5 million for just one season if he’s traded in 2025. If a trade happens after 2025 (and before June 1, 2026), the cap charge would be smaller at $25 million. In that case, the Falcons would have paid Cousins $90 million for two years.
It all depends on when they decide to switch to Penix. They’ve suggested that Penix could sit for four or five years, but that’s unlikely. The reality is that a move to Penix could happen within a year or two without causing major issues for the Falcons.
There’s a small chance that the Falcons might trade Cousins before the 2024 season begins. If Penix impresses during OTAs, if another team loses their starting quarterback before the season kicks off, and if that team and Cousins agree, a trade after June 1, 2024 would have the same impact on the salary cap as a trade before June 1, 2025. And with $12.5 million of Cousins’ signing bonus due in September 2024 and another $12.5 million in December 2024, the new team could agree to cover the money.
In 2016, the Vikings lost Teddy Bridgewater right before the season began. The Eagles, who planned to start Sam Bradford while rookie Carson Wentz learned, quickly changed their plans when the Vikings offered a first- and fourth-round pick for Bradford.
These outcomes aren’t likely, but they’re possible. If Penix proves he can be the main guy quickly, there are ways the Falcons can speed up the process to switch from Cousins to Penix.
Penix is clearly seen as the future. The sooner the Falcons can make Penix the current quarterback, the better they’ll be in the long run.
