The Atlanta Falcons' outlook on veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins hasn't changed since the end of the season, but general manager Terry Fontenot's transparency regarding Cousins's contract has.
Fontenot said Tuesday at the NFL combine in Indianapolis that Cousins is still the Falcons' backup amid talks of a potential trade or release when free agency opens March 12.
But Fontenot also acknowledged that keeping Cousins, who will make $27.5 million guaranteed in 2025 and will add another $10 million if he's on the roster March 17, is far from a quality situation.
"We understand it's not ideal to have a quarterback at that cap number," Fontenot said. "Now, when we gave him that contract, the expectation was for him to be the starter at this point, and so that is a good number for a starting quarterback."
Atlanta gave Cousins a four-year deal worth up to $180 million last March. He was five months removed from having surgery on his torn Achilles, which ultimately didn't prove overly problematic, he said.
But Cousins, who only spoke to Atlanta media the day after he was benched for rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr., said in an appearance on NFL Network before the Super Bowl he battled right elbow and shoulder injuries from Weeks 11-15.
Cousins said he suffered the injury in a Week 10 loss to the New Orleans Saints, which started a five-game span in which he threw only one touchdown and nine interceptions while Atlanta went 1-4. At the time of his benching, he had tossed an NFL-worst 16 interceptions.
The 36-year-old Cousins appeared on Atlanta's injury report the week after losing to the Saints, but he was a full participant in the team's two full practice sessions Thursday and Friday and didn't have a game designation. He was not listed on the injury report at any point thereafter.
Fontenot and Falcons head coach Raheem Morris each said they were unaware of any additional injury issues Cousins experienced.
For now, however, Cousins is Atlanta's backup to Penix, who Morris confirmed Tuesday is the team's starting signal caller now and moving forward -- which brings the conversations back to Cousins's contract.
Fontenot said in his end-of-season press conference Jan. 9 that Atlanta is comfortable with its financial situation at quarterback, a claim he reiterated Tuesday.
"Now that he's the backup, when we say we're comfortable, we're talking about the total funds allocated to the quarterback position, and that's already baked in," Fontenot said. "And so it was baked in for him to start at that point, but now he's a backup.
"Again, he handled himself well at the end of the season, and so when you look at our team, we're comfortable at this point."
Fontenot's point is Atlanta's raw financial situation hasn't changed in terms of money spent on the position. No matter whether Cousins is or isn't on the team, or if he had retained the starting role, the Falcons' financial commitment at quarterback is the same as it was expected to be last offseason, just with inefficient distribution between Cousins and Penix.
And that, as Fontenot said, is far from ideal for a franchise currently over the salary cap by nearly $7 million as free agency looms.
