Kirk Cousins Moves into Yet Another Stage of His Uncomfortable Reality
Before the 2024 season ended, Kirk Cousins had been benched in favor of Michael Penix Jr. Nothing over these past several months has changed in Atlanta.
Per Atlanta’s official website, Mr. Cousins is still an employee of the Falcons. His role is to be the backup to Penix, the sophomore who was chosen at No. 8 in the 2024 NFL Draft (a decision that got an audible “wow” out of me). Is the 37-year-old passer — someone who so evidently wants the chance to step onto the field — really going to see a year of his career burned up by backup duties?
Kirk Cousins as the QB2 in Atlanta
Kick it over to the Falcons’ website, which clarifies where things stand more broadly on the Atlanta roster.
The intro blurb: “The Atlanta Falcons’ initial roster for the 2025 regular season dropped Tuesday at the NFL’s 4 p.m. ET deadline. The offense features 24 players, the defense has 25, and special teams has three. That puts the team at 52 of a possible 53 players.”
Scroll down a bit and there’s Kirk Cousins’ name, fitting in snugly behind Michael Penix as the lonely backup.
Some expected a trade back in March since free agency month is when a lot of player movement occurs. Others thought that things would change in April due to the draft. After all, picks can fly around during the event, so maybe that was the time when something would materialize. Still others thought that training camp and/or the preseason would lead to an injury or a starter playing so poorly that a desperate team would finally meet the Falcons’ asking price.
All of those things have come and gone. All that’s left is the arrival of the regular season. A Kirk Cousins trade has been nowhere to be found.
Since first signing in 2018, Kirk Cousins has been controversial in the Twin Cities.
Cousins has always been good but never been great. Sure, there have been magnificent moments, but nothing that could reasonably be called sustained top-tier, elite quarterback play from the former 4th-Round selection. He has never been an All Pro and never finished as a runner up for a major award, let alone win an award.
Well, that last point isn’t entirely true: Cousins finished up at 13th in the AP’s Comeback Player of the Year voting in 2024. Something, right?
The discrepancy between a Kirk Cousins who is a good football player and the Kirk Cousins who is an elite contract negotiator has often left onlookers a bit irked. Miffed, even.
And the grand irony of it all? That he’s now sitting within a prison of his own making. Like the hero from a Greek tragedy, Cousins is being undone by his own ambition. Job security is what he wanted and job security is now what he can’t get rid of.
Kirk Cousins, a veteran moving into his fourteenth NFL season, hasn’t been a backup for most of a season since 2014. He’s operating from within the second season of a four-year deal that’s coming in at a total of $180 million.
The Vikings and Falcons will play in Week 2.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
