The Kirk Cousins situation with the Atlanta Falcons doesn’t have an easy resolution.
Cousins was benched late last season for Michael Penix Jr., and last year’s first-round pick showed some good things in his three starts. It seemed obvious by the end of the season but Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot made it clear Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine: Cousins is now the Falcons’ backup, via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
That’s where it might get a little tricky.
Cousins is one year into a four-year, $180 million contract. He has a $10 million bonus that triggers on the fifth day of this league year. He also has a $27.5 million base salary. That’s ridiculously expensive for a backup, but the Falcons are maintaining that they’re OK with that plan.
Cousins will remain with the team for the foreseeable future, Fontenot told the media in Indianapolis via NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo. That seems untenable.
Presumably, the Falcons are holding out hope that someone trades for Cousins, who will be 37 years old next season. There are plenty of teams that need a quarterback. After the season, Cousins said right shoulder, elbow and ankle injuries affected his play. Fontenot said Tuesday the team was unaware of those injuries.
If a team looks at the best-case scenario with Cousins, the one that caused the Falcons to sign him to a massive deal and games like his 509-yard effort in a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers early last season, perhaps the Falcons can have some trade talks even though it seems unlikely.
Teams understand that Cousins remaining on the roster with his 2025 salary and the bonus that is due would be very hard to manage. Presumably the relationship will end relatively soon, but the Falcons aren’t ready to admit that publicly yet.