One of the biggest questions of the 2025 offseason for the Atlanta Falcons has been what to do about quarterback Kirk Cousins, who saw his play fall off of a cliff down the stretch of last season and was ultimately benched for Michael Penix Jr. Many have speculated that the Falcons could be in the market to look for a trade partner for Cousins, but others have thought they might opt to keep the veteran around as a backup for Penix.
Recently, Mike Florio of NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk broke down some of the options that Atlanta has regarding the veteran quarterback.
“The Cousins contract has a provision allowing the Falcons to automatically restructure the deal, whenever they want. They have not yet exercised that right,” reported Florio. “Doing so would create up to $20.996 million in 2025 cap space, by reducing his salary from $27.5 million to $1.255 million, paying the difference as a bonus, and spreading it over five years.”
Florio then broke down what the Falcons' approach would likely be if they were serious about trading Cousins.
“If they’re serious about keeping Cousins for 2025, it would make sense to create another $20 million in cap space. If they’re thinking about trading him, it would make no sense; not only would they pay him a $26.245 million signing bonus (instead of sending his $27.5 million salary to a new team) but they would also absorb a much larger cap hit when trading him,” reported Florio.
A big decision for the Falcons
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) prepares for a game against the New York Giants at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Brett Davis-Imagn Images
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The only saving grace for the Falcons down the stretch of the 2024-25 season was that Michael Penix Jr. performed well, especially for a rookie being thrown into the first of an NFL postseason hunt.
Still, that didn't absolve the team of the unmitigated disaster that the Cousins signing turned out to be, a move that was almost universally criticized after it was unearthed that Atlanta had also used their first round draft pick on a quarterback instead of improving other aspects of the roster.
Florio noted that Cousins does have the ability to call off any trade, but also pointed out that “if his choice ultimately becomes waiving it and playing or not waiving it and sitting, why not waive it?”
In any case, the Falcons will look to resolve this situation sooner rather than later.