Fаlconѕ GM Terry Fontenot mаkeѕ Kіrk Couѕіnѕ bаckup clаіm tһаt nobody belіeveѕ

Terry Fontenot isn't ready to move on from Kirk Cousins just yet

After positioning themselves as the preseason favorite to win the NFC South division during the 2024 NFL season, the Atlanta Falcons stumbled to an 8-9 finish and now enter a sixth consecutive offseason without a division title, and even worse, without a winning record. If we're looking to assign blame for why the Falcons failed to live up to preseason expectations, we'd probably start with veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins, who signed a four-year, $180 million contract with Atlanta last March.

Now in fairness to Cousins, it's not necessarily his fault that Atlanta decided to sign a 35-year-old coming off an achilles tear to a massive deal. It's also not on Cousins that Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot decided to use the 8th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on Washington Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr. instead of drafting for need. What was in Cousins' control was his own performance in 2024, which as has been documented, was shaky at best. For that reason, Cousins was benched late in the season for the rookie signal-caller… a move that proved to be not enough for Atlanta to make a return to the postseason.

Terry Fontenot addressed the media on Thursday morning, and one of the main points of conversation was what Atlanta's plan at quarterback would be for 2025. As expected, Michael Penix Jr. will be Atlanta's starter, but what happens with Kirk Cousins? Most expect that Cousins won't be on the Falcons roster in 2025, but Fontenot apparently feels differently.

“We gave Kirk Cousins two years guaranteed. When you do that, you expect to get high-level quarterback play for two seasons. We understand that that didn’t happen,” Fontenot said, per Matt Urben of USA Today. “We’re more than comfortable moving ahead with him as the backup. He’s handled himself extremely well through the entire process.”

However, for good reason, not everyone around the league is buying the claim that Cousins will be back as Penix's back-up for the 2025 season.

“At this point of the offseason, it does the Falcons zero good to admit error and state that they plan to move on from Kirk Cousins, but to be clear: they will not have a back-up QB make $37.5M in cash next season,” says ESPN analyst Field Yates on X.

Ultimately, the Falcons will need to do as Field Yates said… admit their error and move on from Cousins. But for now, if they want to continue on with the charade that he'll be in Atlanta next season, then so be it.