Money talks, but in the NFL, ego and cap space scream. The Atlanta Falcons’ 2025 offseason is shaping up like a primetime drama where the owner’s suite doubles as a war room. Arthur Blank—Home Depot mogul, philanthropic titan, and Falcons owner since 2002—isn’t just signing checks these days. He’s playing 4D chess with Kirk Cousins’s $100M guaranteed contract, a deal that’s stickier than Georgia humidity.
Meanwhile, head coach Raheem Morris is left picking up the pieces after losing linebacker Lorenzo Carter to the Titans, a move that’s got Falcons fans side-eyeing their sweet tea. Let’s break it down like a Hail Mary playbook.
Blank’s billion-dollar gambit: Cousins conundrum
Picture this: Cousins, the NFL’s ultimate “you like that?!” maestro, sitting in Blank’s office like Tony Soprano in therapy. Blank, who turned a fired hardware exec into a $2.5B franchise, isn’t blinking first. “We’ve paid him. These are guaranteed money, so we don’t need to do anything right now,” a team source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Translation? Blank’s playing the long game, even if it means eating $20M like leftover Waffle House hash browns.
Cousins’s 2024 stats—3,508 yards, 18 TDs, 16 INTs, and a QBR lower than a rookie’s GPA—paint a messy picture. But Blank’s loyalty runs deeper than a Falcons fourth-quarter collapse. Remember when Cousins dropped 509 yards in a single game against the Buccaneers in the 2024 season? Blank does.
Fowler weighed in on the Falcons’ options with Cousins, stating, “It’s possible, but it’s stagnant right now because no team is just going to tell Atlanta, ‘Hey, we’ll cover $20 million of that contract.’ Sure, and we’ll throw in a fifth-round pick. Like, nobody’s going to make that leap.” Essentially, if other teams aren’t willing to bite, Blank has no reason to force a move.
With free agency heating up, Rich Eisen raised another possibility: “While Rodgers makes his decision, somebody might call up Terry Fontenot and offer a draft choice. Depending on where the draft choice is, it depends on how much money Atlanta’s willing to eat, or something, right? Like, that is possible, isn’t it?” A valid question.
To which Fowler responded: “Yes, it’s possible but it’s stagnant right now. Because no team is just going to tell Atlanta ‘Hey we’ll cover $20 million of that contract.’ Sure and we’ll throw in a fifth-round pick like nobody’s going to make that leap. And so if they’re not making that leap Atlanta’s not motivated. Maybe closer to the draft, this heats up, but they really are prepared to hold on to him until something crystallizes.” That makes sense.
Cleveland looms like a thirsty ex. The Browns, per Fowler, “were going to look at all the quarterbacks with starting potential” after Cousins’s benching. But Blank’s wallet is thicker than a Southern biscuit. “Nobody’s going to make that leap,” Fowler added, referencing teams unwilling to swallow Cousins’ contract. It’s Succession meets Hard Knocks—ownership ego vs. gridiron logic.
Meanwhile, free agency chaos saw ‘B players get A money,‘ as Fowler put it. Offensive tackles cashed $20M/year checks, while Cousins’s $100M albatross hung in the air like a deflating blimp. Blank’s strategy? Wait for desperation to spike like a post-Thanksgiving heart rate. “Maybe closer to the draft, this heats up,” Fowler teased. For now, Cousins is Georgia’s most expensive garden gnome.
Morris’ misfortune: Bye-bye, Lorenzo
While Blank plays cap-space cowboy, Morris is stuck singing the blues. Linebacker Carter—a Falcon since 2022—inked a deal with the Titans, leaving Atlanta’s defense thinner than the plot of Riverdale. Carter’s stats? 32 tackles, and 0 sacks in 2024. Not exactly Ray Lewis vibes, but his 2022 heroics (pick-sixes, blocked punt TDs) earned him cult-hero status.
Morris had hoped Carter’s return from a concussion would spark a late-season rally. “Hoping to get back Lorenzo this week,” he said months ago, sounding like a dad waiting for AAA. Instead, Carter’s now Nashville-bound, leaving Morris to lean on rookies and prayer. The Titans, meanwhile, gain a Swiss Army knife defender—6’5”, 265 lbs of “versatility,” per Ex-GM Ran Carthon. Atlanta’s loss is Tennessee’s gain, and Falcons fans are muttering “bless your heart” into their peach cobbler.
Carter’s exit stings like a hornet at a BBQ. His 2022 highlights—a pick-six against Carolina, a blocked punt TD vs. the Rams—were SportsCenter gold. But NFL rosters churn faster than the plaid jacket trend. “That’s listening to your doctors,” Morris shrugged when asked about Carter’s injury. Translation: The NFL’s a business, y’all.
Blank’s Falcons saga mirrors his Home Depot hustle: bet big, build slower. His foundation’s $200M Children’s Hospital donation? Pure class. His QB gambit? Pure chaos. Meanwhile, Morris—once the Rams’ “we’ll fix it” defensive guru—is desperately rebuilding a linebacker corps with duct tape and hope.
As the draft looms, Atlanta’s war room feels like The Wire’s chess scene: “The king stays the king.” Blank’s crown? Unshaken. Cousins’ fate? Hanging like a halftime score. And Morris? He’s strumming the playbook like Creed Bratton on a guitar—making the most of what’s left.
Eisen summed up the NFL’s chaotic free agency best when he asked Fowler, “What’s your take coming out of it?” Fowler didn’t hold back: “I mean, the money was crazy. Guys got overpaid. I mean, we see that every year, right? B players get A money in free agency. But they were—I mean, no offense to some of the guys that were out there, but you had sort of middle-of-the-road offensive tackles getting $20-plus million a year.” Well, even in the wild world of NFL free agency, the Falcons’ situation feels especially unpredictable.
Blank’s patience with Cousins could pay off—or it could backfire spectacularly. Either way, the drama isn’t over. In the end, the Falcons’ 2025 season hinges on Blank’s billionaire stubbornness and Morris’s next-man-up grit. Will Cousins soar or crash? Will Carter haunt Atlanta from Nashville? Grab your popcorn, y’all. This drama’s just getting started.
The post Arthur Blank Calling the Shots Behind Kirk Cousins Trade Decision As Raheem Morris loses Falcons LB to Titans appeared first on EssentiallySports.
