Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins met with owner Arthur Blank on Wednesday and expressed his desire to go to a place where he could start, according to Sports Illustrated insider Albert Breer.
The Falcons would not confirm the report and had an official “no comment” on the matter Friday. When asked about Cousins at the NFL combine earlier this month, general manager Terry Fontenot said “we have to do what’s right for the Falcons” and didn’t go in detail about what that means for the 36-year-old Cousins moving forward.
Cousins signed a huge free agent contract with the Falcons last March, and the franchise surprised the new signee and most of the football world less than two months later by selecting quarterback Michael Penix Jr with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 draft.
Cousins asked to meet with Blank, and his request was granted Wednesday night, according to SI. The Falcons nor Cousins’ agent would confirm the meeting.
“Sources: QB Kirk Cousins asked for, and got, a meeting with Falcons owner Arthur Blank on his future,” reported Breer on X. “Blank and Cousins had that meeting Wednesday night—the QB wants to go to a place where he can start in 2025. The Falcons brass has said it’d do what’s best for the team at QB.”
The Falcons still are considering their options with the start of league year set for 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Cousins is due a $10 million bonus by the fifth day of the new business year or by March 16.
Cousins admitted that he was injured in the 20-17 loss to the Saints on Nov. 10 during an appearance on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” on Feb. 4. Fontenot said the team’s “conversations” about the injury matter would stay “private.”
The Falcons listed Cousins on the Nov. 12 injury report with a “shoulder and elbow” injury.
In the next game, after the Falcons were blasted 38-6 by the Broncos, Cousins was asked if he was injured. It was noted that he was on the injury report before that game. He was asked, “Are you feeling OK?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m good,” Cousins said. “That was a bit of a clerical error because we had walk-through, and when you have walk-through, they don’t really know what you could have done or couldn’t have done. If we had a full-speed practice, I would have, I would not have been on the report because I would have done everything.”
The NFL declined to comment to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution when asked if the Cousins matter would be investigated as a possible violation of the injury reporting rules.
The Falcons’ record dropped to 6-4 after the loss to the Saints. They went on to lose the next three games and drop to 6-7 on the season and out of first place in the NFC South. After a win over the Raiders, in which Cousins continued to play poorly, he was benched in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr.
“Kirk was on the injury report that week, as you know, leading into that Denver game,” Fontenot said at the combine. “Outside of that, he wasn’t on the injury report, so we weren’t aware of anything outside of that particular week.”
Fontenot was asked if the franchise was misled about the “injury.”
“That’s a question for Kirk, any specific things about that, but as far as we stand, he was on the injury report that week leading into that game,” Fontenot said. “Went on the injury report. He wasn’t on the injury report anytime outside of that.”
Cousins’ drop in play — from throwing for a franchise record 509 yards on Oct. 3 to leading the league in interceptions — was not a red flag for the team.
“That’s a regular part of the process with our player-performance team,” Fontenot said. “Everything we do, it’s about the players 24/7. We’re doing everything we can do to make sure we’re doing right by the players in every way. So, that’s a regular part of the process.”
Fontenot would not say if the franchise was surprised by Cousins’ injury comments.
“Again, he was on the injury report that one week,” Fontenot said. “When the player is injured, we put him on the injury report. That’s the only time he was on the injury report. So, as far as we’re concerned, that’s the only injury we were aware of.”
When benching Cousins, Falcons coach Raheem Morris said it was because of his turnovers and not the injury.
After he was benched, Cousins would not use the injury or his health as an excuse.
Cousins, who signed a four-year contract worth up to $180 million, has a no-trade clause in his contract.
Fontenot was asked what would be the benefit to keeping Cousins around as the backup as opposed to releasing him.
“Whether it’s Kirk Cousins or any other player,” Fontenot said. “We have to look at how is this going to help our team and how is this going to effect the Atlanta Falcons. Not just with Kirk, with anybody. All of the decisions that we make, that’s what we look at, what’s right for this football team.”
Cousins, who turns 37 in August, was originally a fourth-round pick by Washington in the 2012 draft. He has also played for Minnesota.
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