The Falcons say they might keep Cousins as their backup quarterback this season. The rest of the NFL is skeptical.

Over his final five starts, Cousins threw only one touchdown and nine interceptions while the Falcons went just 1-4. He later said he suffered right elbow and right shoulder injur

The Falcons may not trade Kirk Cousins this offseason for financial reasons, which could lead to the quarterback being cut.

For the fourth year in a row, the Atlanta Falcons will enter the season with a different starting quarterback. Michael Penix Jr. took over for Kirk Cousins in Week 16 of the 2024 season and the team isn't looking back.

Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot indicated Tuesday that he would be comfortable keeping Cousins as the NFL’s most expensive backup in the second year of the four-year, $180 million free-agent contract that he signed last offseason.

Cousins and the Falcons got off to a good start last season, but poor play and injury issues revealed after the fact slowed the quarterback down along with Atlanta's offense. Eventually the Falcons benched Cousins in favor of Penix, but it was too late to make the playoffs.

Fontenot said Tuesday at the NFL combine in Indianapolis that Cousins is still the Falcons' backup amid talks of a potential trade or release when free agency opens March 12.

Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot raised eyebrows when he suggested during the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis that he plans to hold onto quarterback Kirk Cousins as a backup even though Cousins lost his starting job to 2024 first-round draft pick Michael Penix Jr.

The Atlanta Falcons have plenty of work to do this NFL offseason. Atlanta finished the regular season 8-9 and missed the NFC playoffs. Now the Falcons must transition into offseason mode and attempt to fix what went wrong last season.

Terry Fontenot is going to be spinning a lot of plates this offseason. The Falcons’ defense isn’t even close to where it needs to be, so that should be taking up most of Fontenot’s attention, but on the back burner is Kirk Cousins.