Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot raised eyebrows when he suggested during the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis that he plans to hold onto quarterback Kirk Cousins as a backup even though Cousins lost his starting job to 2024 first-round draft pick Michael Penix Jr. in December.
For a piece published Monday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated indicated the Cousins-Falcons situation could get ugly before $10M of Cousins’ money for 2026 vests on March 17.
“If the Falcons truly plan on having Cousins around in 2025,” Breer explained, “having him on the roster on March 17 would prove it. Because at that point, not only are the Falcons on the hook for [Cousins’ money]. It also would make what’s already unlikely, pulling off a trade to get something back for him, even more difficult. And even before we get there, free agency starts a week before that, so holding him on the roster through that week would make it tougher for him to find another starting job, since those will be filling up over that time.”
The free-agent negotiating window opens on March 10. Free agency officially gets underway when the new league year begins on March 12.
Breer directly said that “Cousins doesn’t want to be in Atlanta” following all that went down after the 36-year-old signed a four-year, $180M contract that included $100M guaranteed to leave the Minnesota Vikings for the Falcons last March.
Cousins “was not given a heads up” at that time that Atlanta would seriously consider taking a quarterback with the eighth overall pick of the 2024 draft, and it’s widely believed he would’ve signed elsewhere had he known roughly 12 months ago that he could be relegated to backup duties by Week 18 of this past season.
“‘We’d rather pay $100M for two years of Cousins rather than just chalk $90M for 2024 as a sunk cost on a failed signing,'” Breer added about the Falcons’ mindset. “…But there’s also what’s best for Penix to consider, and it might not be great for a young quarterback to have the accomplished veteran he replaced around. Either way, I think we’ll hear more about this one this week. Because if Cousins feels like he and his camp have to start getting pushy, now’s the time to do it.”
Stories have linked Cousins with the New York Jets, New York Giants and Cleveland Browns. All three of those teams presumably would name him the starter for at least the 2025 campaign, but they also could sign other options as soon as March 12.
This content was brought to you by: Yardbarker: NFL
