The Falcoholic
Kirk Cousins is going to be playing elsewhere in 2026. I know that, you know that, he knows that, and the Falcons know that. It doesn’t have to be a messy divorce, as it would have been after he was benched in 2024, but from a performance and contract standpoint, there’s very little sense in Cousins returning next year.
The team and the player just agreed to a move that in my mind all but confirms the outcome, reported by ESPN’s Field Yates. Kevin Knight did a nice job of breaking it down on X right here:
Where cutting Cousins previously would have left the Falcons with about $25 million in dead money in 2026 and $12.5 million in 2027, they’ll now have to carry about those same totals…but will have more money to work with in the here and now, per Over The Cap, given that his actual salary for 2026 just plummeted all the way down to $2.1 million. That means cutting him with a post-June 1 designation before the March 13 date where his guarantee will vest for a whopping $67.9 million in 2027. It will only save $2.1 million against the cap in 2026 once that cut happens, but gives the Falcons money to make a splash or two in the first couple of days of free agency, and saves them a staggering $77.9 million against the cap in 2027.
Even if those numbers turn out to be a bit different when they’re made official, the play here is fairly obvious: Have room to breathe as you look to potentially re-sign free agents like Kyle Pitts and David Onyemata, attract a couple of free agents in the early days of free agency, and then save a ton of money against next year’s cap as you look to significantly re-tool the roster. Cousins gets to leave—while still getting paid big bucks—and find his next starting opportunity, assuming one exists, and the Falcons get enough cap flexibility to better absorb the inevitable dead money. Cousins agreed to this because it doesn’t impact his compensation but does make life a little easier for Atlanta, which is a solid thing to do, while still getting him out of here where he can chase a more guaranteed role and another big payday.
The deal will obviously go down as a disaster, even if Cousins’ play was more of a mixed bag. The Falcons went 12-10 in Cousins’ 22 starts with the team, with the highly-paid quarterback throwing for 28 touchdowns, 21 interceptions, and 5,229 yards in that span. He was lights out for a handful of games against Tampa Bay, solid early in the 2024 season and late in the 2025 season, and terrible for a stretch in 2024 where he as injured and turning the ball over at an alarming rate; that got him benched for Michael Penix Jr. The team’s dreams of starting him for two seasons and handing the reins over to Penix never materialized, and for a...
