NFL

Kirk Cousins Will Enter Season as Backup, Falcons Say

Author photo
By
Colin Lynch
Author photo
Colin Lynch Sports Editor

Colin Lynch covers the NFL, MLB and WNBA for Heavy.com, with a focus on the New England Patriots. His sports coverage has been featured on The Sports Daily and Basketball Insiders, as well as FanSided's Chowder & Champions. A New Hampshire native and former D1 baseball player at St. John's University, Colin was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2008 and enjoyed a four-year professional baseball career.

Get to know Colin Lynch better
Sports Editor

Published25 Feb 2025

Disclosure
We publish independently audited content meeting strict editorial standards. Ads on our site are served by Google AdSense and are not controlled or influenced by our editorial team.
Kirk Cousins Will Enter Season as Backup, Falcons Say

Kirk Cousins and the Falcons: A Costly Stalemate Without an Easy Out

For the Atlanta Falcons, the Kirk Cousins saga has quickly become a story of unexpected headaches and unanswered questions—with no easy solution in sight.

Cousins arrived in Atlanta just one year ago with a four-year, $180 million contract, billed as the veteran answer at quarterback. But what began with optimism has devolved into uncertainty, confusion, and potential regret. Now 37, Cousins finds himself in a position he’s rarely experienced: benched in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr., and seemingly unwanted by the team he was meant to save.

Late last season, Falcons head coach Arthur Smith made the difficult—but necessary—decision to move Cousins to the bench after repeated struggles and uneven play. Cousins later attributed his decline to previously undisclosed injuries, citing issues with his right shoulder, elbow, and ankle. Yet, shockingly, Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot claimed Tuesday that the team had been entirely unaware of those injuries.

“We were not made aware of those injuries,” Fontenot told reporters Tuesday. The gap in communication raises further questions about Cousins’ future in Atlanta and suggests that the relationship between quarterback and organization may already be damaged beyond repair.

The Financial Quandary

But the issues extend far beyond poor performance and injury disclosures. Cousins’ massive four-year, $180 million contract—signed just last offseason—creates a significant obstacle for both sides. The Falcons owe Cousins a $10 million roster bonus on the fifth day of the upcoming league year, plus a base salary of $27.5 million in 2025. That’s nearly $40 million committed to a quarterback who is now second on the depth chart.

Simply put, Cousins is a luxury the Falcons cannot afford—at least, not as a backup. Atlanta now faces a brutal decision: pay Cousins, trade him, or cut him outright and swallow a massive financial loss. But moving a 37-year-old quarterback coming off his worst season and carrying a massive contract is no easy task.

Any potential trade partners would have to believe in Cousins’ health and performance rebounding significantly. But after injuries impacted his shoulder, elbow, and ankle during the latter stages of the 2024 season, it’s unclear how much he still has left to give.

Injuries and Uncertainty

Cousins recently revealed that his struggles down the stretch were partly due to injuries, including soreness in his right shoulder, elbow, and ankle. While Cousins made this known publicly, Fontenot’s assertion that the team knew nothing of these ailments casts doubt on how transparent the veteran QB was with the organization during a critical stretch.

It’s one more uncomfortable wrinkle in a relationship now strained by miscommunication, unmet expectations, and massive financial commitments. The Falcons signed Cousins with hopes of contending immediately, but a year into that experiment, they’re left wondering what went wrong—and how to fix it.

What Comes Next for Cousins and the Falcons?

Though Fontenot has yet to publicly confirm Cousins’ exit, the writing seems clearly on the wall. With plenty of teams across the league still desperate for an experienced quarterback, Cousins could attract trade interest—if the Falcons are willing to cover a significant portion of his massive salary.

Alternatively, cutting Cousins before the upcoming league year would save Atlanta from paying a $10 million roster bonus due on the fifth day of the league calendar. That scenario would leave significant dead money against the cap, but it might be better than the alternative of keeping Cousins as an overpriced backup.

The Falcons brought Cousins to Atlanta expecting stability, experience, and a pathway to postseason success. Instead, they have controversy, confusion, and one of the toughest roster decisions in recent franchise history.

Ultimately, Kirk Cousins’ Atlanta era appears to be ending before it ever truly began. Whether he’s traded, cut, or somehow retained at a drastically reduced role, the Falcons now face the consequences of what could turn out to be one of the costliest miscalculations in recent NFL history.

One year after Cousins arrived as the team’s presumed savior, the Falcons are no closer to clarity—only uncertainty. The Kirk Cousins era in Atlanta, brief and turbulent, might soon be over. But the consequences of this costly experiment could linger far longer.