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Today — 25 February 2025Sport News

Falcons GM dishes on Kirk Cousins plans after benching last season

25 February 2025 at 09:11

The Atlanta Falcons might not be moving on from Kirk Cousins – yet. 

Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said Cousins will remain with the team for the foreseeable future, on Tuesday at the NFL Draft combine, via NFL Network

Cousins, 36, was benched in favor of rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. after struggling last season. 

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Cousins was benched despite signing a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed prior to last season.  

Things started out well for Cousins and the Falcons, as they were 6-3 and atop the NFC South

Then the team imploded as Cousins’ play took a turn for the worse. In Cousins’ final five games as the starter, he threw just one touchdown with nine interceptions as the team went on a four-game losing streak. 

The team was 7-7 when Penix took over for Cousins, with their playoff chances having turned from once strong into a long shot. Penix went 1-2 with two overtime losses in his three starts, and the Falcons missed the playoffs. 

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Fontenot praised Cousins for how he handled the demotion. 

"Kirk handled that really well at the end of the season," Fontenot said via NBC Sports. "Obviously, Kirk’s a really talented player, he’s a great man, all those things. Again, he handled that role well at the end of the season."

NFL executives expected Cousins to be released before the quarterback was due a $10 million roster bonus on March 17, according to an ESPN report from December. However, Fontenot’s comments on Tuesday make it seem that Cousins is not going anywhere. 

That $10 million roster bonus will count toward the Falcons' salary cap in 2026, per Spotrac

In addition to the roster bonus kicking in, Cousins’ $27.5 million base salary, which he would receive if he stays on the Falcons' roster, would make him an incredibly expensive backup quarterback. 

Complicating matters for the Falcons is if they want to move on from Cousins via a trade, the quarterback would have to waive his full no-trade clause. According to the ESPN report, Cousins is not expected to waive it to help the Falcons. 

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Eagles' Lane Johnson has 1-emoji response to call to ban 'tush push'

25 February 2025 at 07:58

Whether it’s called the tush push or the brotherly shove, the Philadelphia Eagles’ famous play is going to be a talking point in the offseason once again.

The Eagles utilized the play to its fullest extent during the 2024 Super Bowl run all the way to winning a championship. And it’s become a point of contention within the NFL as The Athletic reported the Green Bay Packers submitted a proposal to have the play banned.

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Eagles offensive lineman Lane Johnson offered a one-emoji response to the report.

Outgoing Packers president CEO Mark Murphy revealed in his monthly Q&A column why he wasn’t a fan of the play before the Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.

"There is no skill involved and it is almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less. The series of plays with the Commanders jumping offsides in the NFC Championship Game to try to stop the play was ridiculous," Murphy said. "The referee even threatened to give the Eagles an automatic touchdown if the Commanders did not stop it. 

"I would like to see the league prohibit pushing or aiding the runner (QB) on this play. There used to be a rule prohibiting this, but it is no longer enforced, because I believe it was thought to be too hard for the officials to see. The play is bad for the game, and we should go back to prohibiting the push of the runner. This would bring back the traditional QB sneak. That worked pretty well for Bart Starr and the Packers in the Ice Bowl."

The NFL Competition Committee is likely going to have to decide what to do with the play. The best retort to defending the Eagles on those short-yardage situations is to not let them get into that scenario in the first place.

Before the Super Bowl, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni told reporters it wasn’t really about the play but the players who execute it.

"It’s always a topic for conversation: Should this play be banned? But the success we have is not replicated always throughout the entire league," he added, via Pro Football Talk on Feb. 6. "We saw it last week with the game we’re studying, Kansas City against Buffalo, stopped them in a critical situation. 

"I guess I’m lobbying to never change that rule because we’re successful at it, but we’re successful at it because of the guys we have up front."

Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report.

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Commanders grant star defensive tackle Jonathan Allen permission to seek trade: reports

25 February 2025 at 07:36

The Washington Commanders have granted two-time Pro Bowler Jonathan Allen permission to seek a trade, per multiple reports. 

Allen, 30, has spent his entire eight-year career with the Commanders after being drafted by the team in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. 

The Commanders plan to do right by Allen in ensuring he moves to a good team, whether that be via a trade or free agency, per NFL Network

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Allen has been a team leader on the Commanders and has become a respected voice in the locker room. Allen has one year left on his contract, and his $15 million salary is not guaranteed. 

Last season, Allen played in just eight regular-season games due to a pectoral injury. Despite the injury, he came back and played in all three of the Commanders’ playoff games in their surprise run to the NFC Championship.

In the regular season, Allen registered three sacks, and in the playoffs, he had one tackle for loss and two quarterback hits. 

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While Allen missed time last season, he has been very durable in his career, starting no less than 15 games in a season for six years in a row after only playing five games his rookie year. 

Across his eight-year career, Allen has 42 sacks in 109 games played. 

Allen has a $22.3 million cap hit should he be on the roster in 2025, according to Spotrac. Because of the team's strong depth at the defensive tackle position, it appears to make Allen expendable.

The Commanders have star defensive tackle Daron Payne under contract through the 2026 season and spent a second-round pick on another defensive tackle, Johnny Newton, in the 2024 NFL Draft

Allen’s cap hit is the third highest on the team, behind Payne and wide receiver Terry McLaurin

Newton played 16 games, registering two sacks in his rookie season. Next season, he will likely be tasked with supplanting Allen. 

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