Falcons Expected To Release QB Kirk Cousins Before 2025 Season

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Falcons are expected to release QB Kirk Cousins before his $10 million roster bonus is due on March 17th. 

Atlanta decided to bench Cousins after a 7-7 start in favor of first-round QB Michael Penix Jr. Cousins has a no-trade clause in his recently-signed four-year, $180 million and Schefter reports the expectation around the league is they will not be able to trade him.

Cousins would be able to sign with any team for the league minimum as he will still see the $27.5 million base salary he was set to make with the Falcons.

Schefter adds that executives around the league believe Cousins might have worked to facilitate a trade instead of a release if the team had handled the draft situation with Penix differently and kept him in the loop on that decision. Atlanta is expected to try their best to make a trade happen, but “nobody across the league expects them to get it.”

Schefter listed the following teams as potential suitors if Cousins is released: Jets, Giants, Raiders, Saints, Browns and Titans. 

Cousins, 36, is a former fourth-round pick of Washington back in 2012. He played out the final year of his rookie contract before being franchised in back-to-back seasons. 

Cousins later departed in free agency for a three-year, $84 million contract with the Vikings. He was entering the final year of his contract in 2020 when he agreed to a two-year, $66 million contract extension. In 2021, he agreed to a new one-year, $35 million contract extension that was also fully guaranteed.

He was in the final year of that deal in 2023 and was testing the market as an unrestricted free agent when signing with the Falcons this offseason. He inked a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed. 

In 2024, Cousins has appeared in 14 games for the Falcons and completed 66.9 percent of his passes for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.