Falcons' Kirk Cousins Makes Dubious NFL Free Agency List

As the NFL is set to begin free agency next week, CBS Sports' Bryan DeArdo went back to study the worst signings in free agency through the entire history of the league. Unfortunately for the Atlanta Falcons, DeArdo didn't have to go very far back to find one of the worst ever.

DeArdo ranked Atlanta's signing of quarterback Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million deal from last year the second-worst in NFL history.

"Prior to drafting Penix, the Falcons' acquisition of Cousins made sense. Atlanta was 7-10 each of the previous three seasons and appeared to be a quarterback away from making a serious run at the NFC South division title," DeArdo wrote. "Cousins, who played the previous six seasons with the Vikings, was enjoying one of his best seasons statistically under he suffered a season-ending injury eight games into the 2023 season."

In all likelihood, the relationship between Cousins and the Falcons will end this spring after just one season. If it does, the Falcons will pay Cousins $90 million for 14 games.

He led the Falcons to a 7-7 record in those 14 contests.

There may be some recency bias in ranking the Falcons-Cousins contract the second worst NFL free agency deal in history. The only one DeArdo rated worse was the then Washington Redskins signing defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth in 2009.

But there's no argument to be made that the Falcons' deal for Cousins was beyond bad.

Because of how the 2024 season ended with Cousins, it's a great thing the Falcons now have quarterback Michael Penix Jr. But the Penix pick is also the reason why Atlanta is moving on from Cousins after just 14 games.

The Falcons benched Cousins in favor of Penix on Dec. 17. At the time, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris called Cousins' benching a "football decision." The organization has remained steadfast in that claim this offseason.

But Cousins revealed in Feb. that he was dealing with shoulder and elbow injuries during the second half of 2024.

Even if the Falcons can somehow salvage their relationship with Cousins and have the quarterback on the roster as a backup in 2025, it's still an historically bad free agency deal. As it stands, Cousins is set to have a $40 million cap hit as the No. 2 signal-caller in Atlanta for 2025.

Anyway one slices the Cousins' deal, it's bad. According to DeArdo, it's up there with the worst free agency contracts in NFL history.