This comes on the heels of a season where Cousins both signed a four-year, $180M contract with the team and got benched for a rookie first-round pick after throwing no touchdowns and nine interceptions over a five-game stretch in the middle of the season. Understandably, there is some tension between both parties with the way things wound up unfolding this past season – the Falcons appear to be committed to Michael Penix Jr. as their starter for the 2025 season, leaving Cousins to assume the backup role in Atlanta. Reporting indicates that neither Cousins nor the Falcons’ representatives have achieved contact with each other when it comes to negotiating, and we could be barreling towards an ugly, Russell-Wilson-with-the-Broncos-type finish between the two sides. In that scenario, the Falcons could outright cut Kirk Cousins from the roster and eat dead cap as a result of Cousins’ disinterest in negotiating, which could set him up to sign with another team in free agency this offseason. There have been rumblings that should that scenario unfold, Cousins could look to Cleveland as a potential destination given that Kevin Stefanski was Minnesota’s former OC in Minnesota… but nothing is final yet, and the largest obstacle to any potential move for Cousins remains to be bypassed: getting off the Falcons’ team. With Penix Jr. under center instead of Cousins, WRs Drake London and Darnell Mooney should be fine relative to last season, while the entire offense as a whole likely sees an overall uptice.