Falcons GM Confirms Plan to Release Kirk Cousins When Free Agency Opens
Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham said Tuesday the team has told kirk cousins it will release him when NFL free agency opens, a move Cunningham framed as giving the veteran clarity as he enters the market.
Cunningham made announcement at NFL scouting combine
Cunningham delivered the news at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday and said, “What he’s done in his career, we owe that to him just to allow him some clarity going into free agency. ” He also reiterated the same plan in comments on 92. 9 The Game, saying the Falcons have told Cousins they will release him when the new league year begins on March 11.
Kirk Cousins' contract and the March dates
The decision is tied to a reworked contract that moved the bulk of Cousins’ 2026 salary into 2027. One version of the contract structure in the reporting sets a vesting date of March 13 that would guarantee his 2027 salary of $67. 9 million if he were on the roster by that date; another passage in the coverage said that remaining on the roster by the third day of the new league year would trigger the same full guarantee. The two timelines differ in the provided context.
Past two seasons, starting numbers and recent struggles
Cousins played two seasons with the Falcons, signing a $180 million contract about six weeks before the team drafted Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick in 2024. Penix won the starting job in 2025 before a season-ending knee injury returned Cousins to the lineup late in the season. Over the past two seasons Cousins started 22 of 34 games and was 12-10 as a starter. He threw a league-most 16 interceptions in 14 games in 2024. The 37-year-old is 88-77-2 as a starter with Washington, Minnesota and Atlanta.
Cap mechanics, roster timing and QB market availability
Cunningham said the contract structure “allows that to occur. ” Designating Cousins as a post-June 1 cut would allow the Falcons to spread the remaining cap hit over the next two years. The planned release will let Cousins hit the open market at the start of free agency and, Cunningham added in his radio comments, lets teams looking for quarterback help know he will definitely be available so they can make plans with that in mind.
Falcons to tag Kyle Pitts; tight end’s career-best season
Cunningham also confirmed the Falcons plan to place the franchise tag on tight end Kyle Pitts to keep him from becoming a free agent. Pitts, the fourth overall pick in the 2021 draft, had a career-high 88 receptions and five touchdowns last season and totaled 928 receiving yards, the second-most among all NFL tight ends. The franchise tag value for tight ends this year is expected to be about $16 million.
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The next confirmed milestone in the reporting is the Falcons’ plan to release Cousins when the new league year begins on March 11 and to apply the franchise tag to Kyle Pitts; the exact vesting timing tied to the $67. 9 million 2027 guarantee was given as March 13 in one account and as the third day of the new league year in another, unclear in the provided context.
