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Kirk Cousins sat down with Falcons owner Arthur Blank this week, and the conversation centered around one critical question — will he be Atlanta’s starting quarterback in 2025? According to Albert Breer of The Monday Morning Quarterback, Cousins made it clear he wants to start next season, something that’s far from guaranteed with the Falcons.
Sources: QB Kirk Cousins asked for, and got, a meeting with Falcons owner Arthur Blank on his future. Blank and Cousins had that meeting Wednesday night—the QB wants to go to a place where he can start in 2025.
Sources: QB Kirk Cousins asked for, and got, a meeting with Falcons owner Arthur Blank on his future. Blank and Cousins had that meeting Wednesday night—the QB wants to go to a place where he can start in 2025.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 7, 2025
The Falcons brass has said it'd do what's best for the team at QB.
The veteran’s situation has become one of the most intriguing storylines heading into the offseason. Atlanta isn’t completely writing off Cousins after his disappointing 2024 campaign, but here’s the head-scratcher — why keep a quarterback you benched late last season?
Trade Value vs. Starting Role
My take? The Falcons are likely holding onto Cousins to extract trade value rather than simply cutting him loose. The timing here matters tremendously — any potential deal would make more financial sense after June 1, when Atlanta could spread out the dead cap hit while maximizing cap savings.
It’s a waiting game.
What’s puzzling is the Falcons’ apparent unwillingness to move on cleanly. Sure, they don’t want to feel like they wasted their investment, but keeping Cousins around creates an awkward dynamic with Michael Penix Jr. Despite being a rookie last year, Penix isn’t your typical first-year player — he’s older than most rookies and showed enough promise for Atlanta to give him the starting nod late in the season.
The message seemed clear when the Falcons turned to Penix — they were ready for a changing of the guard. So what exactly do they see in Cousins for 2025 that wasn’t evident last year?
Starting Cousins would send a confusing signal to Penix, who’s presumably being groomed as the franchise quarterback. On the flip side, keeping a high-priced veteran on the bench doesn’t make much financial or developmental sense either.
Most observers — myself included — expected Atlanta would release Cousins and watch a QB-needy team like the Cleveland Browns snap him up as a bridge quarterback while they develop their next long-term solution.
What’s Atlanta’s Endgame?
By shutting down speculation about Cousins’ availability, the Falcons have created more questions than answers. Are they hoping to drive up his trade value? If so, that’s a risky strategy that depends on quarterback injuries or desperate teams emerging during the season.
From a financial perspective, a draft-day trade makes little sense for Atlanta’s cap situation. More likely, they’re playing the long game — keeping him until a team becomes desperate enough to offer meaningful compensation.
The most troubling scenario would be if Atlanta genuinely intends to start Cousins in 2025. That decision wouldn’t just affect this coming season — it would raise serious questions about their commitment to Penix and their long-term vision at the position.
Whatever happens, this quarterback situation bears watching closely throughout the offseason. The Falcons’ handling of Cousins will reveal volumes about their true assessment of both quarterbacks — and their plans for competing in an increasingly tough NFC South.
