Falcons Make Decision On Kirk Cousins' Contract For 2025 Season

On paper, it looks to be a case of the Falcons owing so much money to Cousins that it's literally cheaper to simply keep him on their roster than eat the tens of millions in cap hits that he would cost them to release him.

Then again, he could also provide them valuable insurance in the event that Penix simply isn't ready yet.

Penix had a few strong performances in the final few weeks of the 2024 season after Cousins was benched, but he wasn't exactly destroying opponents. He finished the year with 61 completions for 775 yards and three touchdowns with three interceptions with a 58.1-percent completion rate. 

It's a great start, but he's hardly the finished article right now.

That said, Cousins pretty clearly earned his spot on the bench. He led the league with a career-high 16 interceptions in only 14 games and completed 66.9-percent of his passes for 3,508 yards and 18 touchdowns in that span. His 250.6 yards per game were his worst average in the last five years and his second-worst as a full-time starter.

Maybe the Falcons will give Cousins a shot to earn his starting job back in training camp. But if they don't, or if he simply loses the starting job, it looks like he'll be the highest-paid backup quarterback in NFL history next season.