With Penix recovering from a knee injury and new management, from president of football Matt Ryan to head coach Kevin Stefanski, who is in charge and uncommitted from a former first-round pick, there are a number of unknowns at the QB position.
Last month, Cousins agreed to an amended contract that renewed the four-year, $180 million contract he signed through 2024, NFL Networks insider Mike Garafolo reported. The amended contract gives Atlanta salary cap flexibility and means Cousins will likely become a free agent by March 13.
For Cousins, the company’s football Hall of Famer, uncertainty is nothing new.
“Well, I’ve gotten a lot of reps,” Cousins said Friday. “There’s been years of one-year deals, and what’s next, and do you have to get traded? So I guess I’ve kind of lived it. I’ve learned to be pretty open-minded. And here we are again.
“You don’t really know what’s going on in March. I’ve learned that February is very quiet, which is really nice. You just go away and disappear and sit on the beach and then you know March is coming. My agent Mike McCartney has always kind of taken care of that. We’re on the phone a lot in March. It’s been kind of a ritual the whole time Mike and I are talking about Mike and I in March. McCartney calls. Can I go away for a while?’
“But it’s coming in March and we’ll see where it goes.”
Wherever it goes could be the fourth team of Cousins’ career and the third team in four years. Or if the new Falcons brass chooses, it could bring the QB back to Atlanta for another chance.
If the NFL’s interest in the veteran’s services fizzles, at least he has a backup plan. Cousins was impressed in his work as a studio analyst for CBS Sports, his latest foray into the media space after two seasons on Netflix. Fullback.