Kirk Cousins’ Surprising Revelation That Led to His Struggles Last Season

Kirk Cousins (18) of the Atlanta Falcons warms up before the game against the Carolina Panthers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on Jan. 5, 2025. Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

The 2024 NFL season was one of change for veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins. He changed teams, going from the Minnesota Vikings to the Atlanta Falcons and changed jersey numbers, going from the No. 8 he wore for a decade to No. 18 in Atlanta. But the biggest change for Cousins was going from being a starter to a backup for the first time since the 2014 season.

Late in the year, the 36-year-old Cousins was benched in favor of 24-year-old first-round rookie, Michael Penix Jr.

No one predicted that QB change would happen as soon as it did, as even though the Falcons drafted Penix to be their quarterback of the future, Cousins was viewed as the quarterback of the present. His $180 million contract indicated so, and Cousins was living up to the deal through the first half of the year.

After Week 9, he had Atlanta sitting at 6-3, and the QB had a sterling 17:7 touchdown-to-interception, with a 101.9 passer rating. Then, the bottom fell out, and over his next five starts, Atlanta went 1-4 with Cousins throwing just one touchdown compared to nine interceptions, with a 63.8 passer rating.

We’ve seen NFL players fall off the cliff but it’s usually from one year to another, not from one week to another. However, there could be an explanation as to why Cousins’ production dropped so precipitously. He revealed that reason during a Tuesday interview on GMFB: Overtime.

“I think the Achilles healed well. I think there was a little bit of just trying to get my right ankle back around the Achilles, but the Achilles itself healed really well,” Cousins said regarding his 2023 Achilles surgery. “Even then, we were 6-3, were playing well, doing a lot of good things, even if the right ankle wasn’t perfect. Nobody’s perfect in this league. We’re never feeling 100 percent.

“So it didn’t really affect me too much, but then, against the Saints [in Week 10], I got hit pretty good in my right shoulder and elbow. From there, kinda dealing with that, it was something I was working through, just never could get it really to where I wanted it.”

Players often have injuries that are underreported, or not reported at all, and that appears to be the case with Cousins. He wasn’t listed on Atlanta’s injury report for any of their 17 games last season, despite him revealing he had both shoulder and elbow issues starting with Week 10. The Falcons may not have listed Cousins on the injury report for competitive reasons, but his admission would make sense as to why he looked like a totally different player during those last five games.

While this revelation could help Cousins’ prospects as a starting quarterback in 2025, Atlanta is no longer the place for him to have that role. The team has turned the page to Penix, who Atlanta selected eighth overall in last year’s draft. Both Cousins (88.6) and Penix (78.9) finished below the NFL average in quarterback rating of 92.3 but the Falcons will roll with the QB a dozen years younger on a rookie contract, rather than the one who ended the year on a slump and has a $40 million cap hit for next season.

Even if he doesn’t have a future in Atlanta, this isn’t the end of the road for Cousins, who, if he throws 13 more touchdown passes, would pass Hall of Famers Johnny Unitas, Warren Moon, and John Elway on the all-time list. Cousins said he feels “like I have a lot of good football left in me” but knows that starts with having good health.

“I’m no good to the Falcons, I’m no good to a team if I’m not feeling really good,” stated Cousins. “That’s really where my focus has been through January and February now that the season has wound down, really taking all the time I can to get my body feeling really good …

“Now that the season’s over, you have the time and the energy to say, ‘OK, let’s get the right ankle back, let’s get the shoulder back, let’s get the elbow back,’ and if we can do that, [I] feel like I got a new life ahead of me in pro football.”

While his age, recent injury history, and decline in production are all working against him, working in Cousins’ favor is that the 2025 NFL Draft class for quarterbacks isn’t seen as especially strong. Additionally, outside of Sam Darnold, who is the man who replaced him in Minnesota, the QB free agent class isn’t robust with players guaranteed to be starters next season. It includes several others of Cousins’ ilk, in 30-somethings such as Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, and Andy Dalton.

The route that Wilson went this past season with the Steelers seems the most likely route for Cousins. Wilson was released just one year into a five-year, $245 million contract with the Broncos, in which they paid him over $37 million in 2024, while the Steelers paid him the veteran minimum, and he ended up starting for Pittsburgh in the playoffs.

Atlanta is on the hook for $27.5 million due to Cousins in 2025, regardless if he’s on the team or not, which would likely make him more welcome to a minimum contract with another squad to rehabilitate his value after last year’s unreported injuries.