Atlanta Falcons General Manager Terry Fontenot will continue to pursue all options when it comes to the future of veteran Quarterback Kirk Cousins.
As the Falcons 2024 season has concluded, Fontenot has not held back when discussing the future of Cousins with the Falcons following his benching in late 2024.
“We will take those (trade requests) as they come. Everyone would have to be good with it, from his camp, his supporters, (Cousins’ agent) Mike McCartney, Kirk Cousins, us, the other team, there’s a lot of layers to that,” the Falcons general manager told reporters Thursday.
Kirk Cousins currently finds himself heading into year two of a four-year contract that fully guarantees 90 million at signing. Needless to say, cousins holds a decent amount of leverage here as the dead cap, should he be released by the Falcons, is currently at 65 Million.
Recently, Fontenot mentioned keeping Cousins around in a backup role going into next season, signaling the organization’s readiness to pay his remaining contract.
“We are very comfortable moving forward with (Cousins) as backup,” Fontenot said Thursday.
Fontenot Believes The Future Lies With Penix
The Falcons ended their 2024 season with Michael Penix taking over at QB. Penix’s three games as starting quarterback to close out the 2024 season appeared to be enough for Fontenot’s liking, as his earlier noted statements indicate that Cousins will be the backup to Penix moving forward.
In those three games, Penix’s completion percentage was at a 58.77% average while also averaging 245.67 passing yards per game. Penix’s QBR was also 50.8 this season, which puts him somewhere between Kirk Cousins and Russel Wilson for the season (granted Penix’s sample of stats is significantly smaller than the two).
Penix was able to keep the Falcons competitive in their last three games as well. Despite coming out with just one win with Penix as QB, the Falcons went into overtime twice in their last two games vs. the Panthers and Commanders.
Had the Falcons ended up winning those games vs. the Panthers and Commanders, it’s quite possible they would have been extremely close to a playoff spot, potentially tying the Buccaneers for the NFC South division playoff spot.
Fontenot’s Quarterback Carousel
Fontenot was hired as the Falcon’s General Manager in 2021 following the firing of Thomas Dimitroff and a 4-12 season for the Falcons. Fontenot comes as a first-time General Manager from the Saints where he held various front-office roles.
Since Fontenot’s hiring, the Falcons have gone through a bit of a starting quarterback carousel, especially since the conclusion of the 2021 season when Matt Ryan was traded to the Colts. In 2022, the starting Quarterbacks were Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder. In 2023, it was Ridder and Taylor Heinicke.
Heading into 2025, Fontenot will seem to keep his signature pattern and will have a new starting quarterback to start the season with Penix carrying the torch.
Time will tell if Penix will be the next franchise starter for the Falcons since Matt Ryan, as any hope that it would be Cousins has dwindled.
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