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

Last year, Cousins passed for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns and 16 interceptions before Penix took over. The Falcons are currently $5.2 million over the cap and would add a $40 million dead cap hit by releasing Cousins after June 1. A trade isn't off the table, but the team would need the 36-year-old to sign off on any deal due to his contract.

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.

The conventional thinking around the NFL is that the Falcons will release QB Kirk Cousins to avoid another $10 million of his contract becoming guaranteed in 2026.