Kirk Cousins Sounds Off on Future in NFL, Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons made a bold move on Sunday night as they fired both head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot. Atlanta finished the season on a four-game win streak to end at an 8-9 record for the second straight season. However, despite the winning streak, the Falcons had been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs for nearly a month.

Kirk Cousins operated as the Falcons' starting quarterback for the final seven games of the season, posting a 5-2 record, throwing 10 touchdowns and five interceptions in that stretch. On Sunday, following the culmination of Atlanta’s season, he spoke about his future with the team.

“Hard to know,” the veteran quarterback said bluntly. “I would like to keep playing, but we’ll see how things play out in March or even after that… I would love to be back here. We’ll see how things play out.”

Cousins ends the 2025 season with a winning record as a starter against every NFC South team; a whopping 3-0 vs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2-1 against the New Orleans Saints (including the Falcons' first sweep of the Saints since 2016) and 1-0 against the Carolina Panthers. However, it is unlikely that Cousins will be a member of the Falcons next season.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler shared Monday night that the quarterback blunder was a big part of why Fontenot and Morris were ultimately let go. 

“Fairly big,” Fowler wrote when asked how big a factor the quarterback situation played in the firings. “The Falcons essentially got two big quarterback swings in Penix and Cousins, and neither netted much progress.”

After a 6-3 start in 2024, Cousins essentially played the Falcons out of the playoffs, throwing one touchdown to nine interceptions in a five-game span (in which Atlanta went 1-4) while lying to the team about being injured. 

Atlanta handed Cousins a huge four-year $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed and a $50 million signing bonus. They then kept him in the 2025 offseason, despite Michael Penix Jr. being named the starting quarterback, with Morris hailing him as “the best backup in the NFL.” 

There is an out in Cousins’ contract after year two, and with a new regime set to take over, they will almost certainly move on from the veteran quarterback. It will be a steep price with $35 million in dead cap, but a move the Falcons will have to make to move forward. 

Cousins’ swag surfing era was fun but short-lived, and the veteran quarterback will most likely not be a member of the Atlanta Falcons next season.

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