Kirk Cousins took a big-money deal in Atlanta, but did the Denver Broncos really throw their hat in the ring?

With the NFL draft approximately one month away, Denver Broncos fans are desperate for the team to identify and develop a franchise quarterback. The first major wave of free agency came and went without head coach Sean Payton making any acquisitions to Denver’s quarterback room, which is currently headlined by Jarrett Stidham and Ben DiNucci.

That’s not to say the team won’t supplement the position via trade or free agency before the draft, but with multiple veterans signing big-money deals around the NFL, Broncos Country is asking itself what could have been.

This week, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported that the Broncos contacted Kirk Cousins’ agent Mike McCartney before the veteran QB ultimately signed with the Atlanta Falcons.

What happens next on the Broncos? Don’t miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second, sign up for our free newsletter, and get breaking Broncos news delivered to your inbox daily!

In other words, as interested in Cousins as the Broncos were, the team wanted no part of a QB market that was handing out contracts worth $30-$35 million/year. The Broncos had been there, done that with Russell Wilson’s contract and are set to pay him $38M to play in Pittsburgh this season.

Instead of courting Cousins, the Broncos feverishly worked to maneuver and lower their salary-cap overages following Russell Wilson’s release. According to Spotrac, Denver currently has $20.9M in cap space that it didn’t have when reaching out to Cousins’ camp to engage in a feeling-out process.

On March 13, it was announced that Cousins signed a four-year, $180M deal with the Falcons that included $100M guaranteed. Now, how much interest Cousins may have had in joining Payton’s Broncos remains unknown.

After all, Cousins’ family previously had ties to the Atlanta area, and the optics suggested that the Falcons were the top suitor for the 35-year-old veteran on his third NFL team.

Nevertheless, the Broncos seemed to remain on Cousins’ radar as a potential destination for the veteran heading into his 13th season, according to Breer.

McCartney had an Excel spreadsheet ready, with the quarterbacking landscape for 2024 sketched out. He had the Las Vegas Raiders, New England Patriots, New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers listed in the “strong needs” category at the position. He had Atlanta, Chicago, the Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota and the Los Angeles Rams listed as “concerning,” and the New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, Seattle Seahawks and Washington Commanders as “teams to watch.”

There’s an old saying that ‘still waters run deep.’ That’s exactly what Broncos Country hopes is the case for Payton’s hunt for a franchise QB in an eerily quiet free agency period.

While I don’t subscribe to the notion that the Broncos and Cousins would have been a good fit or that the two sides could’ve reached an agreement within the salary cap, it’s a relief to know that the front office is doing its homework and are exhausting all resources to find QB1.