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

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.

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

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.

Kupp has already been cleared to seek out a trade partner, which seems to portend the end of a stellar career in Los Angeles. But designating him a post-June 1 release would leave about as much dead space on the team’s 2025 cap ($14.7 million) as it saves, which could keep him on the roster if no deal is worked out this spring.

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.

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.