The Atlanta Falcons aren’t transferring on from quarterback Kirk Cousins simply but.
Cousins will stay on the Falcons’ roster when his $10 million roster bonus is due at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, according to multiple reports. Whereas Atlanta might theoretically nonetheless transfer on from Cousins later this offseason, the choice is a sign that the Falcons plan to maintain Cousins for the 2025 season, ESPN reported.
It appeared that Cousins’ days with the Falcons had been numbered when the crew benched him for first-round choose Michael Penix Jr. late within the 2024 season. In comparable conditions, groups have usually determined to chop ties with the veteran quarterback after benching him for the quarterback they just lately picked within the first spherical.
Nonetheless, the crew has signaled on a number of events this offseason that it want to maintain Cousins. Falcons basic supervisor Terry Fontenot told reporters in January that they had been “very snug” with Cousins being their backup quarterback.
Fontenot reiterated that sentiment when he spoke with reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine in February.
“Kirk dealt with that basically nicely on the finish of the season,” Fontenot stated. “Clearly, Kirk’s a very gifted participant, he is a terrific man, all these issues. Once more, he dealt with that function nicely on the finish of the season.”
The Falcons already owed Cousins $27.5 million for the 2025 season earlier than giving him his $10 million roster bonus on Saturday. He signed a four-year, $180 million deal to affix Atlanta final offseason.
Regardless that the Falcons are maintaining Cousins, that appears to go in opposition to what the veteran quarterback needs. Cousins instructed proprietor Arthur Clean that he’d wish to be with a crew the place he feels he has an opportunity to begin, Sports Illustrated reported earlier in March.
Cousins, who’ll flip 37 in August, has a no-trade clause in his contract, permitting him to dictate the place he might play subsequent if Atlanta reverses course. As he returned from an Achilles tear that ended his 2023 season early, Cousins went 7-7 within the 14 video games he began, throwing for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns and 16 interceptions with an 88.6 passer ranking.
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