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\n Atlanta’s new general manager Ian Cunningham announced the team will release quarterback Kirk Cousins next month to give him clarity for free agency. The 37-year-old veteran struggled in his two seasons with the Falcons, posting a 12-10 record as a starter.\n <\/p>\n
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INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 Atlanta Falcons\u2019 new general manager Ian Cunningham announced Tuesday that the organization has notified veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins of their intention to cut him when the NFL\u2019s free agency period begins next month.<\/p>\n
Speaking from the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, Cunningham explained the decision to give Cousins advance notice. \u201cWhat he\u2019s done in his career, we owe that to him just to allow him some clarity going into free agency,\u201d Cunningham stated.<\/p>\n
The 37-year-old quarterback\u2019s tenure with Atlanta lasted two seasons and produced underwhelming results. Despite signing a massive $180 million deal, the Falcons selected Michael Penix Jr. as the eighth overall draft pick in 2024, just six weeks after bringing Cousins aboard. Penix initially claimed the starting role in 2025 before suffering a season-ending knee injury that thrust Cousins back into the lineup.<\/p>\n
During his time in Atlanta, Cousins appeared as a starter in 22 of the team\u2019s 34 games across two seasons, compiling a modest 12-10 record. His 2024 campaign proved particularly challenging, as he led the entire league with 16 interceptions in only 14 games. Throughout his 14-year NFL career with Washington, Minnesota, and Atlanta, Cousins holds an overall starting record of 88-77-2.<\/p>\n
The financial implications of keeping Cousins factored heavily into the decision. His restructured contract would have automatically guaranteed his 2027 salary of $67.9 million if he remained on the roster through the third day of the new league year.<\/p>\n
In related roster news, Cunningham also revealed plans to apply the franchise tag to tight end Kyle Pitts, preventing him from entering free agency. Pitts, who was Atlanta\u2019s fourth overall selection in 2021, enjoyed his most productive season last year with career-best numbers of 88 catches and five touchdowns. His 928 receiving yards ranked second among all NFL tight ends. The franchise tag for tight ends is projected at approximately $16 million for this season.<\/p>\n
More from TV Delmarva Channel 33 News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Atlanta’s new general manager Ian Cunningham announced the team will release quarterback Kirk Cousins next month to give…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2074],"tags":[108477,108478,223,254,2554,224,108471,108479,108473,108474,108472,7,108475,6,108476],"class_list":{"0":"post-774371","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-falcons","8":"tag-102-3","9":"tag-102-3fm","10":"tag-atlanta","11":"tag-atlanta-falcons","12":"tag-atlantafalcons","13":"tag-falcons","14":"tag-fine-day","15":"tag-fine-day-102-3","16":"tag-fine-day-fm","17":"tag-fine-day-media","18":"tag-fine-day-radio","19":"tag-football","20":"tag-have-a-fine-day","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-weller-radio"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116128588882972204","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}