Falcons Address Kirk Cousins’ Injury Claims and Future

Following the end of yet another disappointing season, the Atlanta Falcons find themselves answering more questions about their backup quarterback.

During Super Bowl week, veteran QB Kirk Cousins publicly revealed on NFL Network that he suffered injuries to both his shoulder and elbow on his throwing arm during a Week 10 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

While Atlanta put Cousins on the injury report for one day ahead of its Week 11 game, Cousins called the move a “clerical error” during an interview following the Week 11 loss to Denver — a 38-6 beatdown. While speaking with NFL Network, Cousins said that his elbow and shoulder didn’t get back to a good place following the initial injuries. On Tuesday, Atlanta head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Tony Fontenot responded to Cousins’ statements.

“He was on the injury report that one week,” Fontenot said. “When a player is injured, we put him on the injury report and that’s the only time he was on the injury report. So as far as we’re concerned, that’s the only injury we’re aware of.”

Both Fontenot and Morris said that they (and the organization) were unaware of Cousins’ lingering discomfort as the season wore on. Following the Week 10 loss to New Orleans, Cousins threw one touchdown pass and nine interceptions over the next five games. At that point, Morris decided to bench the veteran in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr.

“The reason we made the change when we made it was because we had some bad decisions going along that way,” Morris said. “It was well-documented. The interceptions that we threw was well-documented, the amount of touchdowns that we had at that point. And it was well-documented, the trust and the confidence I had for us to be able to bounce back, so we didn’t do those things.”

“For us, it was all about performance.”

Fontenot reiterated Atlanta’s plan for the 2025 season is to stick with Penix as the starting quarterback. Additionally, the GM noted any conversations with Cousins and his agent regarding his comments during Super Bowl week will remain private. The Falcons now find themselves in a interesting position. Cousins will certainly not want to stay in Atlanta as the backup quarterback. The team could release the veteran, but such a move would come at a big cost.

By releasing Cousins before March 12 — the start of the league year — Atlanta would be hit with $65 million in dead money. If Cousins is released with a post-June 1 designation, the $65 million would be split between the next two seasons. In a perfect world, the Falcons would be able to trade Cousins. However, the veteran has a no-trade clause and could block a trade if he deemed it an unfavorable situation.

Fontenot added that the Falcons plan to enter next season with Cousins on the roster — despite the issues that may arise.

“We understand that it’s not ideal to have a quarterback at that cap number,” Fontenot said. “Now, when we gave him that contract, the expectation was for him to be the starter at this point. And so that is a good number for a starting quarterback. But now that he’s the backup, when we say we’re comfortable, we’re talking about the total funds allocated to the quarterback position, and that’s already baked in.”