The Kirk Cousins era in Atlanta is over after two seasons. As expected, the Falcons have made it official on Wednesday with the start of the new league year, with Adam Schefter reporting the team has cut Cousins.
A much-ballyhooed signing, Cousins was supposed to be the gem of the 2024
offseason and provide the stability and strong play the Falcons badly needed at quarterback, but that’s not quite what happened. Instead, Cousins had a couple of great stretches, a couple of really terrible stretches, and a lot of middling play sandwiched around knocking off the rust from his 2023 Achilles injury and ailments suffered during the 2024 season. He was benched for Michael Penix Jr. late in 2024 and took over for Penix when the latter was injured in 2025. Cousins not working out in 2024 and Penix not working out in 2025 conspired to get the last regime fired, with Raheem Morris heading to San Francisco as their new defensive coordinator and Terry Fontenot currently out of football.
Now Cousins hits the open market again at age 37, seeking one last deal befitting a high-end starter. He’ll point to the team’s strong run at the end of the 2025 season and his solid play as rationale for that deal, but teams will likely be hesitant after he put up a 28 touchdown, 21 interception, 16 fumble line over two years in Atlanta, including a career high 16 picks in 2024. There’s little question that the version of Cousins in 2025 was closer to the version we saw pre-2024, and I have no doubt that somebody is going to take a chance in a weak quarterback market and probably will not regret the decision. At worst, a truly healthy Cousins gives you competency.
The team will save $2.1 million after June 1 this year against $22.5 million in dead money and have already seen some savings from restructuring Cousins’ deal, while they’ll carry $12.5 million in dead money for 2027 and save a whopping $77.9 million against the cap. If Cousins signs with anyone else this year for a veteran minimum deal, that will slightly offset what Atlanta is paying in 2026. The team is currently set to roll on with Michael Penix Jr., Tua Tagovailoa, and likely a sturdy third quarterback in 2026; if one of those players does not stand out, they may well have an entirely new starter in 2027.
We’ll wish Cousins well at his next stop, and hope the Falcons are off the quarterback carousel very soon.
