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The Minnesota Vikings’ future at quarterback is bright, But their former starter, Kirk Cousins, is having an equally opposite experience this season. It is his first with the Atlanta Falcons, and there is no certainty that it will not be his last.
Cousins leads the league in interceptions with 16 through 15 weeks.
For that reason among others, the Falcons benched Cousins for rookie first-round pick Michael Penix.
“It’s pro football. There’s a standard that I have for myself, that the team has for me, that, unfortunately, I – I wasn’t playing up to that standard consistently enough. And so it is what it is,” Cousins told reporters on December 18. “You roll with it, and now you still get ready; one-play-away kind of a thing, and support Mike, and just try to help our team be able to find a way to win these last three [games] to get in the playoffs, and that’s what it’s all about so that’s that’s my focus.”
This is a stark turn from the positive vibe coming out of Atlanta when Cousins first arrived.
Cousins said that he called Penix after the decision and made a striking analogy to explain why he did so.
“I like to shoot elephants in the room, so I just wanted to shoot one,” Cousins said.
Notably, Cousins got his first starting job replacing Robert Griffin III in Washington, leading the league in completion percentage in his first full season as a starter.
Moreover, Cousins’ tenure with the Vikings ended in part because they wanted to draft his successor and would not meet his full contract demands. After Cousins missed half of the 2023 season with a torn Achilles, the Vikings stood firm in their position.
The change is an even more notable change given that Penix is a rookie.
Cousins, a four-time Pro Bowler, inked a four-year, $180 million contract with $90 million fully guaranteed in free agency during the 2024 offseason.
The Falcons would incur the second-largest single dead cap hit in NFL history if they cut Cousins this season. He spoke with an understanding of where things have gone wrong for him so far.
“It probably ultimately was the turnovers, and that’s such a key thing in winning and losing in the NFL,” Cousins said of head coach Raheem Morris’ explanation for the decision. “That’s probably more decision-making than anything. That wouldn’t have anything to do with my physical limitations. So I wouldn’t say [the poor play, and specifically turnovers, is health related].”
Cousins is on track (and could be a lock now) for his fewest passing yards since 2019.
He will also record his lowest touchdown rate since 2013, two seasons before he became a full-time starter with the Washington Commanders organization.
Kirk Cousins Addresses Future With Falcons After Benching
GettyKirk Cousins #18 of the Atlanta Falcons leaves the field after losing to the Denver Broncos.
Cousins quipped that perhaps he needed less confidence than he had when trying to force throws. But the decision did not surprise him. He knew it was possible that the decision could be coming when Morris called him outside of their usual time slot.
“In my years in the league, I’ve never really had expectations or been surprised. I think that [in] the league, anything can happen,” Cousins said. “I was aware that it might be to talk about what the plan is this week. But again, I don’t really go in with expectations ever in this league. So many things can happen or change that you kind of just try to keep an open mind.”
He did not know what this would mean for himself going forward, though.
“You’re kind of one day at a time right now, and you kind of always are in this league,” Cousins said. “In the offseason, that’s when conversations happen. but we’re not there yet.”
The Vikings are paying Cousins $28.5 million this season due to void years on his previous contract. If the Falcons cut, they would incur a $65 million dead cap charge, per SB Nation’s Matt Warren on December 9.
It would trail only to Pittsburgh Steelers QB Russell Wilson’s (Denver Broncos) $85 million hit.
It would also surpass Vikings QB Daniel Jones’ (New York Giants) $47.1 million charge. But there still is hope for Cousins in Atlanta.
Kirk Cousins Gets Good News After Leaving Vikings, Losing Falcons QB1 Job
GettyKirk Cousins #18 of the Atlanta Falcons takes the field before a game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Cousins will be the Falcons’ QB2 in Week 16, his first time in a reserve role since the 2014 season. With his decade-long starting streak at stake, Cousins’ long-term future was propped up by Morris’ comments regarding the decision.
The chances are slim but not zero that Cousins is again under center as QB1 for the Falcons this season.
The Falcons are Penix’s team for now, though.
“I don’t think anything’s ever permanent in National Football League,” Morris told reporters on December 18. “But right now Michael Penix is our quarterback. And we’re going to back him and give him the utmost support he needs; as we did Kirk when he was our starter.”
It would not make sense for the Falcons to have a short leash on their QB of the future. Penix has been that since the draft.
Be it injury, the moment getting to Penix, or otherwise, Cousins could play again this season.
