Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins has expressed his desires to depart the organization — to as high on the totem pole as he can go.
Cousins asked to meet with Falcons owner Arthur Blank, and his request was granted Wednesday night. During the meeting, Cousins said he wants to go to a place where he can start in 2025, according to Sports Illustrated insider Albert Breer.
"Sources: QB Kirk Cousins asked for, and got, a meeting with Falcons owner Arthur Blank on his future," reported Breer on X. "Blank and Cousins had that meeting Wednesday night—the QB wants to go to a place where he can start in 2025. The Falcons brass has said it'd do what's best for the team at QB."
The news comes as little surprise, as the Falcons have firmly planted their flag behind 2024 first-round pick Michael Penix Jr. as their starting quarterback. The 36-year-old Cousins said earlier this offseason he believes he has lots of good football left.
Should Atlanta honor Cousins’s formal request to play elsewhere, it signifies the end of a one-year relationship filled with a few brief highs but even more lows.
Cousins signed a four-year contract worth up to $180 million last March. He started only 14 games during the 2024 season, completing 66.9% of his passes for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
Over his final five starts, Cousins threw only one touchdown and nine interceptions while the Falcons went just 1-4. He later said he suffered right elbow and right shoulder injuries in a Week 10 loss to the New Orleans Saints, which started his slide.
Speaking Feb. 25 at the NFL combine, Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot doubled down on the statement he made during his end-of-season press conference Jan. 9, during which he said Atlanta is comfortable keeping Cousins as its backup — even with his pricy cap hit.
Cousins is due a $10-million roster bonus if he's on the team on March 17th. The $10 million would count against the 2026 salary cap and would take Cousins's $90-million guaranteed to $100-million guaranteed.
"Now, when we gave him that contract, the expectation was for him to be the starter at this point, and so that is a good number for a starting quarterback," Fontenot said at the combine. "But now that he's the backup, when we say we're comfortable, we're talking about the total funds allocated to the quarterback position, and that's already baked in.
"And so, it was baked in for him to start at that point, but now as a backup — again, he handled himself well at the end of the season, and so when you look at our team, we're comfortable at this point."
But Cousins, evidently, doesn’t want to be a part of that plan — and if the Falcons honor his wish, Cousins’s stay in Atlanta will last just one season.