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Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterDec 20, 2024, 06:00 AM ET
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Kirk Cousins stood at the podium inside the press room at the Atlanta Falcons facility Wednesday afternoon, about 24 hours after being told by head coach Raheem Morris that he would no longer be the team’s starting quarterback.
Morris announced Tuesday it would be rookie Michael Penix Jr. as the team’s No. 1 QB “moving forward.” Cousins had thrown nine interceptions in the span of five games against just one touchdown pass. The Falcons went 1-4 during that stretch, going from first place in the NFC South to a 7-7 record and barely hanging on in the playoff race.
Cousins, who has thrown a league-leading 16 picks, faced the media and was asked, among other things, if he still viewed himself as a starter in the NFL.
“I didn’t forget how to play quarterback,” Cousins said. “Certainly, turnovers were not what you want, but I didn’t forget how to play.”
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Cousins, 36, likely won’t be the No. 1 guy in Atlanta again, though Penix has not yet started a game, and anything is possible. Penix, who the team took at No. 8 overall in the NFL draft back in April, will get the ball Sunday against the New York Giants (1 p.m. ET, Fox).
For the remaining three weeks of the season, Cousins said he’ll offer his support to Penix and the team. After that, things are very much up in the air, and the chances the 13-year veteran returns to the Falcons as a backup seem slim.
Cousins, who has a no-trade clause, will get a say in his future, as will the Atlanta front office. Those decisions, as they almost always are, will be at least in part financially driven. Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million last offseason and about $100 million of that is guaranteed.
The Falcons could cut Cousins. If they do so before the start of the 2025 league year (March 12), they would get hit with $65 million in dead money, coming from his fully guaranteed base salary of $27.5 million and $37.5 million in remaining proration, per Roster Management System. If they do it with a post-June 1 designation, the dead money would spread over the 2025 and 2026 season — $40 million in 2025 and $25 million in 2026.
Kirk Cousins vowed to be the best No. 2 quarterback in the league the rest of this season, but what about his future? Candice Ward/Getty Images
A trade would be another option, if Cousins gives the go-ahead. Cousins played well earlier this season and could be attractive to teams that believe he’ll be better in 2025, two years after surgery to repair a torn right Achilles. He has a track record as a quality quarterback for more than a decade, which is why Atlanta signed him to such a lucrative contract in back in March.
If the Falcons traded Cousins, they would be on the hook for the $37.5 million of remaining proration, while his fully guaranteed $27.5 million of base salary would transfer to his new team. There’s also a likelihood that Atlanta would have to eat some of that $27.5 million in a deal.
Cousins also has a $10 million roster bonus for 2026 that would become fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2025 league year.
Cousins will make his guaranteed sum — regardless of where he ends up — and odds are the Falcons will be dealing with how his contract affects their salary cap for the foreseeable future.
Atlanta general manager Terry Fontenot has done a nice job in getting the franchise out of salary-cap purgatory over the last three seasons. He’ll have to get creative now with the team’s big-money signing not working out as hoped.
As for Cousins, he worked out Thursday with the Falcons scout team in practice and Morris said Cousins told him that he plans on being the best No. 2 quarterback in the league over the remaining three weeks (or longer if the Falcons sneak into the playoffs).
What happens after that seems very much up in the air.
“You are kind of one day at a time right now, and you kind of always are in this league,” Cousins said, “and in the offseason, that’s when conversations happen, but we’re not there yet.”
