After the Falcons benched a struggling Kirk Cousins, the expectation has been for a release to commence. Cousins does not look to have a route back to Atlanta’s starting job, especially after No. 8 overall pick Michael Penix Jr. showed promise in his three starts.
A release will remain the expectation, but Terry Fontenot attempted to craft an alternative solution — one that may not be taken at face value. The fifth-year Falcons GM said (via The Athletic’s Josh Kendall) the team would be fine keeping Cousins as its backup.
Fontenot, who has survived in his post despite four straight losing seasons, oversaw a widely criticized plan that featured the Falcons both giving Cousins $90MM guaranteed at signing and then drafting Penix in the top 10 six-plus weeks later. This historically unusual route led to a benching after 14 games, with Cousins not showing the form that had made him a steady option in Minnesota. This led to retirement rumors, but the 36-year-old passer will aim to play in 2025.
Players in Cousins’ contractual neighborhood are not backups, as the immobile QB will be due a $27.5MM base salary in 2025. No quarterback with a salary north of $12.5MM is a current backup. Cousins is due to count $40MM against the Falcons’ cap this year. The Falcons keeping the 13-year veteran would also leave them on the hook for an additional $10MM guaranteed, due March 17. The Falcons also included a no-trade clause in Cousins’ contract, which all but ensures he will hit free agency.
The team will almost certainly look to escape that final payment by designating the QB as a post-June 1 cut. That measure would split a monster dead money bill over two offseasons, helping the Falcons after their 2024 mistake. The $65MM penalty would check in second all time — by a substantial margin — in terms of a single-player dead money hit. Russell Wilson still leads the way, with part two of his $83MM-plus dead money charge set to hit the Broncos’ payroll soon.
Any hopes the Falcons would have in trading Cousins’ $27.5MM salary would need to involve the NFC South club paying most of it to facilitate a deal. Given Cousins’ concerning play before his benching, the Falcons will have a near-impossible task of convincing a team to take on the contract. Though, this year is not on track to feature a promising QB market — either in free agency or the draft. This would help explain why the Falcons will attempt to dangle their sunk cost a bit longer.
Cousins cannot be cut until after Super Bowl LIX, and no post-June 1 releases can take place until the start of the 2025 league year (March 12). This gives Atlanta some time, even though the odds are against a trade coming to pass.
Cousins did elevate Atlanta’s passing attack compared to where it was with Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder, but a difficult late-season stretch prompted Raheem Morris to bench a player the team hoped would start for two seasons. That was the party line, anyway. In reality, top-10 QB investments do not sit for two years. Penix will now have a full offseason to develop as a starter, with Cousins likely to hit free agency for a third time.
Ah yes, definitely a situation they’re comfortable with and not a bluff.
Def not because having to deal with his cap hit once he leaves
Trying to build up his value after this year’s debacle. Good luck with that story when everyone knows he’ll be dumped before that $10M bill comes due.
This situation is a Dumpster Fire, no chance on this working
why the f did atl give cousins 180mil then immediately spend 8th overall pick on a QB?? why they so incompetent?
Love the handle name. One of the greatest musicians to ever live.
It’s called idiocy. It’ll take a while to dig themselves out of that dead cap money
How does Fontenot still have a job. It’s been 5 years with very little improvement. Come on Dude
Release him and let his agent swing calls to titans jets or raiders
This after they had a 2022 Dead Cap hit of $40.5M for Matt Ryan.
The gaslighting continues in Atlanta.
Thank god for the Jets, Raiders and Cowboys, otherwise this team would get more traction.
Guys, the Falcons are already paying the freight on Cousins. It makes no sense to release Cousins and then spend $8 million on another backup QB. It also makes little sense to spend $3 million on a backup QB (he won’t be a worthwhile backup).
I’ve written this before (but PFR has written this article before) but the winning play here is to keep Cousins on the roster and to trade away half his salary and receive a day three pick when some playoff contender loses their starting QB to sudden injury. This results in $20 million cap saving and an immediate third round pick. Plus Cousins is on hand if the Falcons need him (Pennix plays badly or is injured). Releasing him saves just $2 million (the Falcons still have to pay a backup QB) and maybe nets a comp third rounder two years down the line).
The Falcons should never have given Kirk that contract but now that they have, they should make the best of it.
I agreed with your thinking.