PALM BEACH, Fla. — During the early days of the 2025 offseason, Falcons owner and chairman Arthur Blank received a request from Kirk Cousins to discuss the quarterback's future with the organization. Blank said he spoke on the phone with Cousins for an hour, and took five pages of notes. He shared those notes with Falcons football leadership, but what Cousins had to say they likely already knew.
That's because what Cousins explained to Blank was simple: He knows how much the franchise invested in him. He didn't play up to that investment, but he feels as though he can still be a starting quarterback in this league, and he'd like the opportunity to do so. This aligns with what Cousins has said publicly since the Falcons made the decision to start Michael Penix Jr. for the final three games of the 2024 season.
"Kirk understands his situation. He understands our own situation," Blank said. "He understands we've committed a lot of funds to him. The aspirations from his standpoint and from our standpoint was that he was going to play for a couple years, if not longer. Things didn't develop that way."
In the months since the end of the season, the biggest question facing the Falcons has remained constant. What are the next steps not only for Cousins but the organization with him? Or perhaps, without him. Based on conversations with both Blank and head coach Raheem Morris at the Annual League Meeting in Palm Beach on Tuesday morning, the Falcons' stance on Cousins' future hasn't changed.
Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot have stated multiple times that the organization feels "comfortable" moving forward with Cousins as Penix's backup. That's a $40 million cap hit for a backup quarterback. Meanwhile, Cousins has made it clear he wants to be a starter — as he explained in his phone call with Blank. In order to do so, Cousins will have to waive his no-trade clause, a reality the Falcons are willing to let play out.
The best-case scenario for the Falcons is to trade Cousins after June 1 or with a post-June 1 designation, which would save Atlanta as much as $27.5 million in cap space for the 2025 season, according to Over the Cap. The Falcons want there to be a resolution that puts both parties in the best position possible.
"You want to see him go on to be the best version of himself," Morris said of Cousins. "This is not a thing where we're holding you back. If the opportunity presents itself as something that's good for both of us – it's good for the Falcons and for Kirk Cousins – we'd certainly like to see that happen."
Morris and Blank were exceptionally complimentary of Cousins, saying he has handled the situation with respect.
Cousins has had conversations with Morris, Fontenot and Blank. He was forthcoming with all of the requests he put in to have those conversations. Blank said he does not have ill will towards Cousins or the Falcons' decision last year to sign him to the deal they did, calling it an "excellent plan" at the time. He later quipped that if the Falcons played Tampa Bay every week (invoking Cousins' record-breaking performances against the NFC South foe) perhaps the conversations now would be different.
"At the time when we made a commitment to Kirk and Kirk made a commitment to us, circumstances were extraordinarily different than they are today," Blank said. "Not his fault. Not our fault. Sometimes life doesn't always develop the way you think it's going to develop."
Things change, and they certainly have regarding Cousins' partnership with Atlanta. Asked specifically about Cousins' willingness to waive his no-trade clause, Morris said the Falcons haven't gone into too much detail with their quarterback regarding the mechanics that would need to be put in motion for a trade to work. After all, Morris said, "There's no need to talk about whether he will waive his trade clause if you don't even know who you're waiving it for." But one would assume based on everything said publicly — and reported privately — by both sides that this would be the endgame.
In the meantime, the Falcons and Cousins find themselves in a holding pattern. When might that holding pattern end?
"Be it pre-draft, draft, post-draft, I don't know," Blank said. "But (Cousins) understands what our needs are, and he understands what we have to do as a franchise."
The natural follow-up to that is whether or not this uncertainty about Cousins puts Penix in a tough spot as the starter. Neither Morris or Blank believe so because of the person they hope and believe Cousins to be. If they clear the proverbial deck for Penix later rather than sooner, they trust Cousins to handle it professionally.
"I think Michael does have a clean slate. He is the starting quarterback and everybody in the room understands that," Blank said. "Kirk is a consummate professional, as a football player and as a human being. I think Kirk will do what he needs to do, to show up when he is supposed to show up. ... He has never seemed to be a divisive individual. I don't think that is in him."
With that being said, the expectation is that Cousins won't be participating in the Falcons' voluntary offseason training program beginning later this month. Morris said it's voluntary after all, and everyone understands the business matter at hand.
At a certain point, though, there has to be a resolution. The problem right now is that one is not yet in sight. That doesn't mean, however, that both sides aren't working towards one.
"I told (Cousins) that we will be as thoughtful and sensitive to him as we can be," Blank said, "but we have a responsibility to the franchise — which we do. And he understood that, and he repeated that to me that he does understand. But he wanted to make himself clear on his own situation, which I thanked him for, and I understand, too.
"We will have to see how things play out."
