Cousins Having ‘Great’ Start, but Falcons Could Draft a QB ‘at Any Point’

Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot continues adding fuel to the fire that he and his staff may select a quarterback during the 2024 NFL Draft.

The official start of Kirk Cousins’s tenure as the starting quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons sparked controversy.

At his introductory press conference March 13, Cousins briefly mentioned speaking with Atlanta’s training staff during the legal negotiating period, prompting the NFL to open an investigation into tampering.

The league won’t finish its process this week, meaning the Falcons’ 2024 draft picks remain unchanged – but a potentially hefty punishment in 2025 is a growing possibility.

Still, apart from his first-day mistake, Cousins has been precisely who Atlanta thought he’d be when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.

“It’s been great,” general manager Terry Fontenot said Tuesday at his press conference. “He really hit the ground running. We knew the excitement about Kirk Cousins is he’s a multiplier on and off the field.”

Cousins has spent extensive time in the Falcons’ training room, continuing to rehab the Achilles tear that cost him the second half of this past season.

Fontenot added Cousins has been in the weight room, on the field and is not only involved in each team meeting, but heavily invested.

“He sits right in the front of Raheem’s meeting – notes, everything, he’s like a nerd up there,” Fontenot said. “He’s obsessed with it. That’s been great. The exciting thing about him is we know his makeup and his mentality, and we know it fits what we’re about and this culture we’ve been working hard to build.

“So, you definitely feel the impact.”

Atlanta’s attention has shifted to Thursday’s draft, where it holds the No. 8 overall pick. Once linked to the class’s top quarterbacks, the Falcons appear likely to address defense early.

The decision by Fontenot and head coach Raheem Morris to sign Cousins was significantly impacted by where Atlanta stands in the draft order.

After evaluating all available options, the Falcons chose the veteran route – in large part because they didn’t want to play seven picks of Russian roulette on draft day.

“It’s different when you’re at one or two, but when you’re at eight, there are too many variables in front of you,” Fontenot said. “You can’t guarantee anything. You just don’t know. So, being at that point and not knowing any of that – it’s different if you’re in that top five or higher.”

Fontenot added nobody would be surprised if quarterbacks go off the board with each of the first four picks, and such a result sent Atlanta towards Cousins.

“Having that opportunity to sign a known commodity with the right makeup and we really covet here, because who knows what's going to be there in the draft,” Fontenot said.

Whenever the Falcons sign a player, it changes how they do business elsewhere, Fontenot shared. But ultimately, Atlanta’s goal has always been to add quality players at every level.

And now, even with Cousins in the fold, Fontenot doesn’t intend on being a prisoner of the moment – which could result in the Falcons targeting a signal caller at some point over the draft’s seven rounds.

“There is a known commodity that we had an opportunity to sign, and it doesn’t keep you away from signing quarterbacks whether it’s in the first round, seventh round, after the draft, a trade,” Fontenot said. “It doesn’t take you away from doing more at that quarterback position.”

The Falcons aren’t expected to touch the upper echelon of passers, a group that includes USC’s Caleb Williams, LSU’s Jayden Daniels, North Carolina’s Drake Maye and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.

But Atlanta spent time, money and energy examining Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler, among other passers, and both Morris and Fontenot said they’re planning on adding a third quarterback.

On paper, with Cousins set to earn $90-million guaranteed over the next-two years and Taylor Heinicke set as the backup, any new Falcons’ signal caller likely won’t see the field in 2024.

But Fontenot doesn’t have tunnel vision – he’s cognizant that whoever Atlanta selects will be on the roster for the next four-to-five years, and positions that aren’t currently problematic may become needs down the line.

Thus, the Falcons remain interested in quarterbacks – and may walk out of this weekend’s draft with a player capable of eventually taking the reins from Cousins years down the line. “You still want to think long-term and big picture,” Fontenot said. “You can take a quarterback at any point when you’re thinking big picture.”