Who Should I Start? Kirk Cousins or Deshaun Watson

Thursday, January 9, 12:26 PM

Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said that the team is comfortable moving forward next year with quarterback Kirk Cousins as the backup to Michael Penix Jr. It's very unlikely that Cousins will be in Atlanta next year as a backup with a $40 million salary cap hit. The more likely outcome this offseason is that the Falcons end up trading Cousins to a team looking for a veteran QB while they find their signal-caller of the future in the draft. If Cousins were to be cut before June 1, he'd carry a $65 million cap hit for 2025. The 36-year-old is also due a $10 million roster cut on March 17, so if he's not traded, Atlanta is expected to cut him before then. Cousins was benched for Penix in Week 16 and ended up being a bust after signing a four-year, $180 million deal last offseason. The four-time Pro Bowler threw for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns and a league-high 16 interceptions in his 14 starts.

Friday, January 10, 12:21 PM

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (Achilles) suffered a re-tear of his Achilles tendon and had another surgery on Thursday to fix it, according to sources informed of the situation. The re-tear comes less than three months after his original tear, and Watson could now miss the entire 2025 season. General manager Andrew Berry announced on Monday that Watson had suffered a setback in his rehab, but now we know that it's a pretty serious setback. Even if Watson can make it back at some point this year, there's an even bigger question about how he would perform after dual Achilles injuries. Since the Browns acquired Watson, he's played in just 19 of a possible 51 regular-season games due to injury and suspension -- he was suspended 11 games in 2022 following allegations of sexual misconduct. If he misses all of 2025, he will have played in just 19 of a possible 85 regular-season games.