Since the end of the regular season, people have been wondering exactly what the Atlanta Falcons are going to do with veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Last year's rookie, Michael Penix Jr., took over the starting gig and head coach Raheem Morris has committed to his youngster as the team's starter going forward. So, what does that mean for Cousins?
For weeks, it's been speculated that the Falcons might actually keep Cousins on the roster past the March 15 deadline. In doing so, the team would guarantee Cousins a $10 million roster bonus for 2026.
That's not this year, folks. That's next year.
And, as it turns out, the Falcons have indeed made their decision.
The Falcons are officially keeping Kirk Cousins on their roster past the March 15 roster bonus deadline
Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Falcons have officially opted to keep Cousins on their roster past the deadline. This will guarantee the $10 million roster bonus within his contract for next season.
The Falcons appear to be in no hurry to part with Cousins, even though they've committed to Penix as their franchise quarterback going forward. What does this mean for the veteran?
In all likelihood, Atlanta will wind up releasing or trading Cousins. They seem content holding onto dead money at this point, oddly enough. If they somehow managed to trade him before June 1 this year, the Falcons would miraculously save $2.5 million against the cap.
However, if they do find a trade partner, one might guess the Falcons help out the prospective team by paying some of his salary down. Those details are all yet to be finalized, of course, but that seems to be the likeliest outcome if the trade route is the one they opt for.
Should Atlanta choose to cut Cousins before June 1, they'd incur a dead cap charge of $65 million, putting them upside down by $25 million, in total, this year.
Now, if Atlanta ended up cutting Cousins in a post-June 1 release, they would basically break even on this year's cap while saving $45 million in 2026 and 2027.
The decision to hold him doesn't seem exactly like a death sentence, right now, as the Falcons will just need to get through 2025 before they see any real savings. No matter what they do, this year is going to be pretty tough, financially-speaking, in terms of the Cousins saga.
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