Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterJan 9, 2025, 12:12 PM ET
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- The Atlanta Falcons are ready to move forward with one of the most expensive backup quarterbacks in NFL history, according to the team's general manager.
The Falcons benched quarterback Kirk Cousins in Week 16 after a stretch of five games with nine interceptions and just one touchdown pass. Rookie Michael Penix Jr., who was slated to be the quarterback of the future, was thrust into the starting role over the final three weeks of the season and performed well, though the team missed the playoffs with an 8-9 record.
Cousins signed with the Falcons last March on a four-year, $180 million deal with essentially $90 million guaranteed over the first two years. Penix, who was drafted No. 8 overall last April, will be the Falcons' starting QB going into 2025 and beyond.
Where does that leave Cousins and his contract? Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said the team is willing to keep him on for another season as Penix's No. 2.
"Kirk is a great man and he's been great support for Mike, a great teammate, great support for everybody in the building, so we're very confident moving forward with him as the backup," Fontenot said during a news conference Thursday.
Regarding the cap hit and holding onto a quarterback on the bench who performed well as a starter for nine weeks, Fontenot said the Falcons had already allocated for Cousins' money being on the books as the No. 1.
Fontenot said the expectation was "to get high-level quarterback play for two seasons."
"We understand that that didn't happen," Fontenot said. "Nobody was happy to make the switch at that time. ... So now what happens is we had to accelerate that plan and go to Mike earlier and yet the allocation of the quarterback position -- the cap allocation -- is we're eighth in the league.
"That's what we planned for with Kirk as the starter. He's not the starter anymore but we're very comfortable moving forward with him as the backup."
Fontenot added that Cousins was healthy, and his steep fall off in performance had nothing to do with his comeback from a torn Achilles in 2023.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported last month that the expectation around the league was that the Falcons would cut Cousins before March 17, when Cousins has a $10 million roster bonus due. Fontenot said Thursday that the report was unfounded.
If the Falcons released Cousins before the start of the 2025 league year (March 12), they would get hit with $65 million in dead money, coming from his fully guaranteed base salary of $27.5 million and $37.5 million in remaining proration, per the Roster Management System. If they do it with a post-June 1 designation, the dead money would spread over the 2025 and 2026 season -- $40 million in 2025 and $25 million in 2026.
Fontenot's comments could be construed as posturing for a potential trade. Cousins has a no-trade clause. If Atlanta traded him, the team would be on the hook for the $37.5 million of remaining proration, while his fully guaranteed $27.5 million base salary would transfer to his new team. There's also a likelihood that Atlanta would have to eat some of that $27.5 million in a deal.
Regarding a potential trade of Cousins, Fontenot said "we will take those things as they come."
"Everyone would have to be good with it, from his camp, his supporters, [Cousins' agent] Mike McCartney, Kirk Cousins, us, the other team," Fontenot said. "There's a lot of layers to that and we'll take those as they come."
McCartney didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from ESPN on Thursday.
Fontenot said he didn't want to divulge the conversations he and the team has had with Cousins about being Penix's backup in 2025.
"We'll keep those discussions private as we move forward, but I just want to be clear that we're very comfortable with [Cousins] being the backup," Fontenot said.
