Mike Florio proposes wild Kirk Cousins scenario that would have the Vikings laughing

There's no way this actually happens, but ...

Minnesota Vikings, Kirk Cousins
Minnesota Vikings, Kirk Cousins | Stephen Maturen/GettyImages

There was plenty for Minnesota Vikings fans to talk about when it came to the 2024 NFL Draft.

For starters, the Vikings got their quarterback in J.J. McCarthy, who nearly fell into their lap at pick no. 10. Minnesota traded up one spot to get him, and then proceeded to trade up and select a guy that many called the best pass rusher in the draft, Dallas Turner.

Meanwhile, one franchise that will forever have a tie to the Vikings' 2024 offseason opted to go a very strange route in their first round. The Atlanta Falcons, of course, opted to select Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. at pick no. 8, even though they had already signed former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins to a 4-year, $180 million contract this offseason.

It was a move that raised many eyebrows. And, NBC Sports' Mike Florio recently laid out some options for the Falcons in the near and far future, including one doozy scenario that would send Vikings fans into a hilarious uproar.

A Kirk Cousins trade before the season? It is, at least, a possibility

Florio gave his two cents on the matter, whether or not a Cousins trade would actually happen:

"Cousins might decide he wants out. Technically, he could be traded after June 1 with $12.5 million in dead money this year and $37.5 million in 2025. If traded after the season, the charge in 2025 would be $37.5 million; his cap hit if on the team next year is due to be $40 million."

"There’s no way Penix will sit, as G.M. Terry Fontenot has suggested, for four or five years. It’s three at the very most, one at a minimum (barring injury to Cousins). The most likely is two. While Cousins has a no-trade clause, he’d surely consider waiving it for a chance to play elsewhere — if Penix will be taking over then," Florio wrote.

Even mentioning the fact that Cousins could technically be traded before the 2024 season is an absurdly funny notion. Sure, it's a possibility, but if the Falcons chose to do that, they'd have some major cap implications for a guy that never even played a down for the organization.

At least in the case of the Denver Broncos and Russell Wilson, the team had seen Wilson in uniform for two years and knew the fit simply wasn't working out.

Cousins and the Falcons, though? They seem to be a phenomenal match, at least on the surface. But, with the Penix pick comes a future full of question marks and potential controversy.

Florio simply laid out the facts, and boy would the extreme case be hilarious.

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