There was too much smoke around Kirk Cousins’ release to expect anything but a fire. After he restructured his deal, something that gave the game away, insiders kept reporting Cousins would indeed be let
go after two seasons in Atlanta. Today, the team made it all but official, with new general manager Ian Cunningham telling 92.9 the Game that the veteran quarterback will be cut on the first day of the new league year.
Again, this is not at all surprising. Cousins had not played well enough for the Falcons to feel good about absorbing the increased cap hit in his contract for this year, and the restructure had made it financially untenable for them to keep him around. Cousins wants a shot at the open market, logically, and the Falcons wanted cap space to be able to pursue their offseason objections.
Cousins, who is top 20 in most passing categories in NFL history, has had a long and productive career that will go down as one of the greatest ever for a quarterback drafted in the fourth round; only Dak Prescott has been better. The Falcons pursued him after the first truly major injury of his career expecting that it wouldn’t impact him as heavily because Cousins has never won with his mobility, but unfortunately Cousins was not quite the same player once he recovered and additional injuries ended up conspiring with terrible play to get him benched late in 2024. He took over for an injured Michael Penix Jr. in 2025 and turned in some mostly solid work, but the prolific passer that thrived in Washington and Minnesota may not be there heading into his age 38 season.
When the release is official on the new league year, which kicks off at 4 p.m. on March 11, the Falcons will just have Penix under contract for the upcoming season. They’re widely expected to chase a starting-caliber option in free agency, the draft, or the trade market. There’s a small chance Cousins could return if he can’t find a more attractive offer on the open market, setting up a scenario where he’d once again compete with Michael Penix Jr. to start. Given his age, Atlanta’s team needs, and the fact that there’s a few quarterback-starved teams out there, Cousins will probably land somewhere else. We wish him well wherever he goes.
Now the only drama around the offseason is exactly where it should be: Focused on how and when the Falcons will get better with the resources available to them.
