The Atlanta Falcons will keep quarterback Kirk Cousins on its roster past 4 p.m. Saturday, triggering a $10 million roster bonus that will hit the Falcons’ books in 2026. ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported the news on X.
The 36-year-old Cousins met with Falcons owner Arthur Blank the week before free agency, expressing his interest in being on a team where he can start in 2025. With rising second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. tabbed as the starter in 2025, that team won’t be the Falcons.
But Atlanta isn’t in much of a hurry to move Cousins, who now appears stuck barring a trade. Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot has been adamant throughout the offseason that Cousins is the team’s backup to Penix.
"We are very comfortable moving forward with (Cousins) as backup," Fontenot said during his end-of-season press conference Jan. 9. "Kirk is a great man, and he's been great support for Mike. We are very comfortable moving forward with him as the backup."
The Falcons paid Cousins $62.5 million guaranteed in 2024 and will give him another $27.5 million guaranteed in 2025. With another $10 million guaranteed for 2026, the Falcons committed $100 million to Cousins for 14 starts.
Fontenot said at the NFL combine that Atlanta is comfortable with its cap situation at quarterback, because the overall financial commitment to the position remains the same regardless of whether Penix or Cousins is the starter.
Is it an inefficient usage of resources? Fontenot acknowledged it’s not ideal to have a backup quarterback making Cousins-level money. But the Falcons were likely going to have to pay a backup $10 million anyway this spring, meaning with or without Cousins, the financial situation wasn’t going to be much different.
Atlanta still has a chance to trade Cousins at some point this offseason. Being that the extra $10-million guarantee doesn't hit until 2026, a team might be less inclined to trade for him and pick up the tab on Atlanta's decision. Fontenot and the Falcons are betting on a desperate team coming to bail them out of what has been one of the worst free agent signings in NFL history.
Across 14 games for the Falcons, Cousins completed 66.9% of his passes for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Over his final five starts, he threw only one touchdown and nine interceptions while the Falcons went just 1-4.
Cousins later said he suffered right elbow and right shoulder injuries in a Week 10 loss to the New Orleans Saints, which started his slide. The Falcons disagreed, noting he was on the injury report after Week 10, cleared to play in Week 11 and didn’t appear on the report again. Instead, they watched Cousins flounder for over a month before finally making a move.
The Falcons benched Cousins for Penix before Week 16. Cousins served as the backup for the final three games.
Now, it’s fair to wonder if that was the end of his time as Atlanta’s No. 2.