Cousins’ money is largely tied up in Atlanta.
If Cousins was traded from Atlanta, today, Atlanta would eat $37M over this year and next in dead cap.
Cousins would only be getting his 2025 base salary with Cincinnati.
They could restructure Burrow’s $41M cap hit and fit Cousins tomorrow.
I’m not saying that’s a great idea by any means, as that’s kicking Burrow’s can down the road more and that’s still a significant cost for a 12 game rental, but if the GM/HC are in danger of getting fired if they missed the playoffs again, why do they care?