Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins still wields a lot of power in his current situation with the Atlanta Falcons.
After signing a four-year, $180 million contract in March 2024, Cousins could exert that power.
The Falcons benched Cousins after a 7-7 start. They turned to rookie first-round pick Michael Penix Jr. for the final three games of the 2024 season. Atlanta insists they could retain Cousins as Penix’s backup, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that is not the expectation league-wide.
“The Falcons have said that they don’t know about trading him. They’re going to need Kirk Cousins’ cooperation to get a trade. And I would think that that’s going to be hard to get, which sets up the real possibility that they wind up releasing him even though the organization hasn’t gotten to that point yet, and hasn’t said that it’s willing to move on from him,” Schefter said on “NFL Live” on February 5.
“This is a situation that looks an awful lot like what Denver and Russell Wilson went through last offseason before Denver decided, ultimately, to move on from him when it said it wouldn’t necessarily do that. They released him, he wound up signing a one-year deal at a low salary in Pittsburgh, and that’s how I think people across the league believe this situation will unfold with the Falcons releasing Kurt Cousins right around the start of the new league year with him becoming a free agent and with him finding a new home.”
This is good news for Cousins since it would allow him to fully choose his next team.
In his first year after leaving the Vikings, Cousins completed 66.9% of his passes for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions. He also led the league with 13 fumbles.
Ex-Vikings QB Kirk Cousins Scrutinized Over Injury Comments
GettyKirk Cousins #18 of the Atlanta Falcons looks to pass against the New Orleans Saints.
Like it was for the Vikings, Cousins’ health became a topic of discussion during the season as many questioned whether he returned from the Achilles injury that ended his 2023 season – and his Vikings tenure – after 8 games too soon.
But ESPN’s Marc Raimondi called attention to Cousins’ comments about injuries to his throwing arm.
“Kirk Cousins admitted for the first time today on Good Morning Football that he took a hit during the #Falcons Week 10 game against the Saints and hurt his right shoulder and elbow,” Raimondi posted on X on February 4. “That game was the start of Atlanta’s four-game losing streak.”
Cousins did say that his Achilles injury healed fine during the appearance.
He also downplayed the severity of the issue beyond something that he can finally address with the season over.
“I think the Achilles healed well. I think there was a little bit of just trying to get my right ankle back around the Achilles. But the Achilles itself healed really well. And even then, we were 6-3, [I] was playing well, doing a lot of good things even if the right ankle wasn’t perfect. Nobody’s perfect in this league. We’re never feeling 100%, so it didn’t really affect me too much,” Cousins said on “Good Morning Football” on February 4.
“Then, against the Saints, got hit pretty good in my right shoulder and elbow, and from there kind of dealing with that. It was something I was working through and just never really could get it to where I wanted it.”
Cousins completed 69.1% of his passes for 2,328 yards, 17 TDs, and 7 INTs from Weeks 1 through 9. He completed 62.7% of his throws for a 1,180/1/9 line over his final five starts.
“Now that the season’s over, you have the time and the energy to say, ‘Okay, let’s get the right ankle back, let’s get the shoulder back, let’s get the elbow back. And if we can do that, feel like I gotta a new life ahead of me here in pro football.”
Cousins attempted what was his third-most attempts of the season in that contest.
It came five weeks after he set his top mark for 2024 with 58 tries in Week 5. The Falcons listed Cousins on the Week 11 injury report with shoulder and elbow injuries.
However, he was off it in Week 13 after the Falcons’ bye. Some have speculated that he hid the injury to avoid losing his job to Penix. Attempts to gain clarity over the comments have been turned away.
Cousins called the designation a “clerical error” at the time.
The former Vikings star and four-time Pro Bowler said that it was a walkthrough during which reports are estimations.
“As invited media, gave #Falcons’ Kirk Cousins several opportunities to clarify his injury comments tonight after a paddle event in NOLA,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Orlando Ledbetter reported on X on February 5. He respectfully and repeatedly declined. He said that he wasn’t doing “any media.” Two of his workers kindly asked that we respect his wishes.”
Cousins has made the Vikings look wise for letting him leave last offseason.
Following the Money Could Tell Kirk Cousins’ Future
GettyKirk Cousins #18 of the Atlanta Falcons warms up before a game against the Carolina Panthers.
Schefter noted the timing of the Falcons’ decision is key. Parting with Cousins could cost the Falcons $65 million.
“How many times in this league … when we follow the money, do we hear about a quarterback making $40 million as the No. 2?” Schefter said. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense. Now, again, if they move on from him, the post-June 1 designation would spread the dead cap money over two years. It would be $40 million this year, $25 million next year.
According to Over The Cap, the Falcons would incur a $12.5 million cap charge with $27.5 million in savings by trading him. However, Cousins has a no-trade clause. That allows him to nix any trade the Falcons may agree to that is not to his liking.
The Vikings avoided many of these issues by letting Cousins walk in free agency during the 2024 offseason.
An already uncertain pool of suitors is even more limited, but Cousins should land on his feet.
“The issue here is that, again, there are more teams that need quarterbacks than there are quality quarterbacks available. And so there will be a spot out there that’s appealing to Kurt Cousins,” Schefter said.
“He’s been too good in the past and is too respected around the league not to think that, with one of these teams that has a quarterback need, that he’s not going to get an opportunity somewhere. He’ll just have to wait to see exactly where that’s going to be. But again, I think most people will be surprised if he’s the backup quarterback in Atlanta [in 2025].”
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