It’s been an offseason full of speculation surrounding Michigan State legend and current Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Ever since Atlanta had benched the veteran quarterback for then-rookie Michael Penix Jr. for the last three games of the 2024-25 season, there’s been a glaring question regarding Cousins’ future with the club.
Sources close to the situation told Michigan State Spartans On SI (Spartan Nation) that Cousins is drawing a lot of interest from multiple NFL teams. Spartan Nation would anticipate something happening after the NFL Draft, but it could be sooner.
Cousins is still on the Falcons’ roster, which, according to NFL insider Tom Pelissero, means he will get his roster bonus of $10 million for the 2026 season, as the deadline to release the veteran without eating the bonus was at 4 p.m. EST this past Saturday.
NFL.com had reported earlier this month that Atlanta “doesn’t intend to release” Cousins.
According to a report from Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, however, Cousins does not want to be a backup next year.
Should Cousins be on a roster, it would be his 14th season in the league.
The former Spartan star spent five year (one redshirt season) at Michigan State and went to bowl games in all four years. He is the all-time leader in program history in career completions (723), is second in passing yards (9,131), is second in passing touchdowns (71) and is first in passing efficiency (minimum of 100 passes thrown) with 146.1%.
Cousins was a three-time All-Big Ten honoree and was a semifinalist for the Davy O’Brien Award for his 2010 campaign.
He would go on to be selected by the Washington Redskins (now Commanders) in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He spent his first six seasons with Washington before spending the next six with the Minnesota Vikings, where he was named to three of his four career Pro Bowls.
Cousins would suffer a season-ending Achilles injury in his final season in Minnesota and would sign a four-year $180-million contract with Atlanta last year, prior to the Falcons’ drafting of Penix.
The veteran has thrown for a total of 42,979 yards and 288 touchdowns in his NFL career.
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