Falcons Feel Comfortable Keeping QB Kirk Cousins as a Backup
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said Thursday the team is “very comfortable” with keeping Kirk Cousins on the roster next season as the backup quarterback behind Michael Penix Jr.
Cousins was signed to a four-year, $180 million contract last offseason with $100 million guaranteed but was benched as Penix started the final three games of an 8-9 finish for the team’s seventh consecutive losing record.
The final $10 million of the $100 million guarantee in Cousins’ contract will be paid if Cousins is not released before March 17. Fontenot said suggestions the team plans to release Cousins are “not valid.”
“He’s not the starter anymore, but we’re very comfortable moving forward with him as a backup,” Fontenot said. “He’s handled himself extremely well through the entire process from start to finish, from when he came in the building. And, you know, in these situations, that’s when you show your true character.”
Fontenot said Cousins is “a great man” and a “great, great teammate” who showed “great support for everybody in the building.”
The Falcons were 1-2 with Penix, the No. 8 overall pick in last year’s NFL draft, as the starter. Even so, the left-hander showed more promise as a passer and a better ability to move in the pocket than Cousins, 36, who was returning from a torn Achilles tendon that ended his 2023 season with Minnesota.
Penix threw for 312 yards and accounted for three touchdowns — two passing and one rushing — in Atlanta’s 44-38 overtime loss to Carolina on Sunday. The Falcons missed the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.