Last year, Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins received $62.5 million for 14 starts. This year, he’ll get $27.5 million for, if all goes as planned and their preferred quarterback remains healthy, one start.

And that’s likely where Cousins’s time in Atlanta will stop.

The Falcons didn’t release Cousins after making Michael Penix Jr. the 2025 starter because they hoped to get something of value in exchange for the balance of Cousins’s four-year, $180 million contract. They kept him around, even though another $10 million roster bonus due in 2026 became fully guaranteed.

Now, with no trade opportunity ever coming close to materializing, they have to decide whether to cut him before the fifth day of the 2026 league year, when the $10 million will be paid.

If they do, the $10 million becomes

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