Kirk Cousins Says He Played Through Shoulder, Elbow Injuries Before Falcons Benching

Kirk Cousins had a rough debut season for the Atlanta Falcons and was eventually benched in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr. for the final three games of the 2024 campaign.

But on Tuesday, Cousins revealed he was dealing with shoulder and elbow injuries he suffered in Week 10 against the New Orleans Saints.

"I, against the Saints, got hit pretty good in my right shoulder and elbow and from there kind of dealing with that was something I was working through and just never really could get it to where I wanted it," he said during an appearance on NFL Network's Good Morning Football (h/t Marc Raimondi of ESPN).

Cousins also said that while his Achilles was in a good spot after a torn right Achilles ended his 2023 season halfway through, he also dealt with some ankle issues throughout the 2024 campaign.

"Even if the right ankle wasn't perfect, nobody's perfect in this league," he said. "We're never feeling a 100 percent. So, it didn't really affect me too much."

Cousins' comments about his injuries are interesting on two fronts.

The first is that, during the season, both the Falcons and Cousins said that he was healthy. Tuesday's comments clearly contradict those prior remarks.

Second, it appeared that the 36-year-old Cousins was simply washed by the second half of last season. Between the Saints' matchup and a mid-December win over the Las Vegas Raiders, he threw nine interceptions to just one touchdown, and the Falcons went 1-4 in those contests.

That made the decision to switch to Penix fairly easy, and seemingly set the stage for Penix to be the starter going forward, especially after he was solid in his three starts (737 passing yards, three touchdowns, three interceptions, one rushing score, 1-2 record with an overtime loss against the Washington Commanders).

But if Cousins was dealing with injuries rather than simply regressing, the Falcons may have an interesting quarterback situation on their hands heading into 2025.

That doesn't come down to just performance. Atlanta would incur a massive $65 million dead cap charge if they released Cousins, making it an incredibly prohibitive option.

A better alternative would be trading him, leaving them on the hook for just $37.5 million in remaining proration, though Cousins has a no-trade clause and would have final say on any deal. That limit's Atlanta's leverage in trade negotiations and could mean eating some of his $27.5 million base salary in 2025 to facilitate a deal.

Either way, the decision to both sign Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract last offseason and also use a first-round pick to select Penix remains a head-scratcher. At this point, the Falcons probably need to just move forward with Penix, leaving Cousins as either a trade candidate or a very expensive backup.