ESPN gives Kirk Cousins the exact compliment he doesn't want and the irony is impossible to miss

Backup QB Kirk Cousins labeled as a Falcons luxury 

"These rankings don't include the financial investment made for players at each position. Obviously, teams would prefer to avoid paying their backup quarterback $27.5 million while guaranteeing him $10 million for next season, especially when he'll be 38 years old and potentially playing for another franchise.

At this point, the 2025 season and what Cousins is owed is a sunk cost for the Falcons. Yet looking around the league, it's pretty clear he would be the best choice of any backup passer to start one meaningful game.

The Falcons undoubtedly lost faith in Cousins during his late-season collapse in 2024, and reports afterward that he was battling a shoulder injury added some logical context to the situation. Before that stretch, though, his 59.3 QBR ranked 12th in the league, a reasonable figure since his early-season mobility was compromised by a torn Achilles injury in 2023. He led a late comeback to beat the Eagles in Week 2 and threw for 509 yards and four touchdowns in an October win over the Buccaneers. He also managed to make the occasional big throw, like this go route that travelled 50 yards in the air to Darnell Mooney against the Vikings.

Admittedly, Cousins missed or underthrew plenty of passes during that early stretch, but the hope has to be that the offseason has given his shoulder time to heal. Even with that disastrous end to his first year in Atlanta, he finished the season 23rd in QBR, ahead of starters C.J. Stroud, Dak Prescott and Aaron Rodgers. He averaged nearly 7.7 yards per attempt and completed just under 67% of his passes. Would I want to sign him to a contract for what the Falcons are paying him? Of course not. Then again, what's more luxurious than paying too much for something you won't use?"

- ESPN's Bill Barnwell

The Falcons gave the keys to Michael Penix Jr. during last season, and he is now entering the 2025 season as their projected Week 1 starter. Cousin's has had some solid success in the NFL and can be a very valuable asset for Penix to pick his brain while he is still here in Atlanta. It's no secret that Cousins would prefer to be moved somewhere where he has a better chance to compete to be a starter. 

He seems, on paper, to be the best backup QB in the NFL at this moment, and if he stays into the regular season, he could certainly win the team a game if he had to be catapulted into the starting lineup. Which isn't something every team in the league can say about their current backup QB, and that is a very valuable player to have. We will have to continue to wait and see how the Cousins and Falcons relationship unfolds in the next couple of months. But even if him being elsewhere would lower the tensions around the situation, their backup role would be significantly less reliable after that move.