The Falcons have a decision to make.
The Atlanta Falcons are currently trying to figure out how to recover from the disastrous way their 2024 season ended, in which Kirk Cousins' play fell off of a cliff and Michael Penix Jr. was thrown into the middle of a playoff race that the Falcons ultimately missed out on. Cousins has since blamed injury for the trainwreck of a second half of the season that he put together, but that wasn't enough to quell the frustration of Falcons fans.
The big question now is what the Falcons will choose to do about Cousins and his massive contract moving forward now that Penix has solidified himself as the franchise quarterback. Recently, NFL insider Dan Graziano shed some light onto what the Falcons' approach could be.
“From a cap standpoint, a trade is the best way,” reported Graziano. “…if the Falcons trade him before March 17, the acquiring team would take on this year's $27.5 million and next year's $10 million. Atlanta would then absorb $37.5 million in dead money charges on its 2025 cap as a result of the remaining signing bonus proration on the contract.”
Graziano then broke down what the Falcons would be looking at if they opted to cut the veteran quarterback.
“If they released him outright before March 17, the dead money hit for 2025 will be $65 million,” reported Graziano.
A roller coaster of a season
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For a minute, particularly after the Falcons' early season home win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which Cousins threw for over 500 yards, it looked like Atlanta had made a justified gamble by signing the former Pro Bowler to a massive contract despite his recent Achilles injury.
However, beginning with a game against the New Orleans Saints in mid-November, Cousins' play nosedived, as did the Falcons' play, and a solid couple of showings from Penix Jr. were not enough to lift Atlanta back into playoff positioning.
There's little doubt that Penix is now the guy for the franchise moving forward, but whether or not the team wants to keep Cousins around considering how things unfolded
