Kirk Cousins breaks silence on Falcons future after previous trade request

Cousins made his plans for the 2025 season crystal clear

After months of speculation, Kirk Cousins addressed his future with the Atlanta Falcons on Tuesday, the first day of the team's mandatory minicamp. 

Cousins, who enters the second year of his four-year, $180 million contract, requested a trade earlier this offseason after he lost his starting job to then-rookie Michael Penix Jr. during the final three weeks of the 2024 season. But with minicamp underway, training camp roughly six weeks away and with just about every other starting quarterback vacancy already filled, Cousins appears to be resigned to the fact that he will likely remain in Atlanta for the upcoming season. 

"We're moving forward," Cousins said, "and it's about how we as a team and as a quarterback room can be the best we can be in 2025."

Obviously, there's still a chance that Cousins gets traded at some point, especially if one of the NFL's other 31 teams suffers a season-ending injury to their starting quarterback. But based on what Cousins said Tuesday, it appears that he is no longer advocating for a trade. If a trade occurs now, it appears that it would have to be initiated by the Falcons, who at that point would then have to find a capable backup for Penix. Cousins would also have to sign off on any possible trade as his contract includes a no-trade clause. 

Speaking of Penix, there's no guarantee that he ends up panning out in Atlanta. While he showed promise during the final three weeks of the 2024 season, the former first-round pick still finished with an underwhelming 58.1% completion percentage while throwing as many interceptions (three) as touchdown passes. Penix's lack of experience is surely a reason why the Falcons reportedly drove a hard bargain when teams called inquiring about Cousins earlier this offseason. While he may not be the team's starter, Cousins still has value as an overly qualified backup. 

It's safe to say that the Falcons would rather not pay a backup a starter's salary (Cousins is due $27.5 million guaranteed this season). It's also safe to assume that Cousins would rather not be a backup. And while both of those things are true, what is also true is that the Falcons have arguably the NFL's best backup quarterback in Cousins, and Cousins has the luxury of getting paid a lot of money without the responsibility of being QB1. Basically, it's an imperfect, perfect marriage that doesn't appear to be over just yet. 

As he said on Tuesday, Cousins is preparing to move ahead with Atlanta, but rest assured that talks regarding his future with the Falcons are far from over, especially with training camp and the start of the regular season looming.