Cover 9@9: Clarity on Kirk Cousins coming soon from the Falcons

“Yeah, we understand that it’s not ideal to have a quarterback at that cap number,” Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said. “Now, when we gave him that contract, the expectation was for him to be the starter at this point. So, that is a good number for a starting quarterback.”

But the Falcons benched Cousins last season for ineffective play. On Feb. 4, he said that he was injured.

“But now that he’s the backup, when we say we’re comfortable, we’re talking about the total funds allocated to the quarterback position,” Fontenot said. “That’s already baked in. And so it was baked in for him as a starter at that point.”

Cousins has not spoken to the media, unless you count going on league-owned television to promote a ping-pong game. That’s where he kind of slipped in his injury update.

“But now as a backup again, he handled himself well at the end of the season,” Fontenot said. “So, when you look at our team, we’re comfortable at this point.”

Cousins, who set to turn 37 in August, likely wants to continue to play.

However, his contract is deemed untradeable and he has a no-trade clause.

That helps to explain the Falcons’ stance that he’s the backup quarterback.

However, it’s more likely that like Russell Wilson last season, he’ll be released, and the Falcons will be looking for a new backup quarterback very soon.

2. Free-agency moves

It’s going to be a busy next few weeks for the Falcons.

In addition to dealing with the Cousins situation, they have to get under the cap before the start of the league business year and they could let go several veterans to get there.

The could restructure several contracts and extend some other deals to create cap space. However, they have to worry about the present and the future salary caps.

“It starts inside,” Fontenot said. “It starts internal. We want to make sure we focus on our players making the right decisions in the house first. Then we go from there and start to continue to put together the puzzle.”

3. Dalman is gone?

Center Drew Dalman appears headed to free agency.

“Drew is (an unrestricted free agent) UFA,” Fontenot said. “So, we know he’s a really good player. He’s been a big part of our offensive line for a long time, but like Drew or any other unrestricted agent, we have to have those conversations in time.”

4. Meeting with agents

The Falcons will be meeting with Atlanta-based agent Todd France and several of the agents at the combine.

France represents defensive lineman Grady Jarrett and safety Justin Simmons.

The Falcons will get a good view of the free-agency landscape and then decide how much salary-cap room to create before the legal tampering period starts.

5. Grady Jarrett situation

Jarrett has been a model citizen and the Falcons’ 2024 Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee. They Falcons could easily extend his contract for a couple of seasons to lower his cap number, which is set at $20.3 million for next season.

“We always, it’s the critical part,” Fontenot said. “It’s not just about exactly what you’re doing on the field. It’s everything, even when we’re talking about these college players, you know that’s why we’re spending time meeting with them, because it’s not … the film is important, but also who they are as player is and the makeup, all those things are really important.”

The Falcons have long noted Jarrett’s work in the community.

“So, with any player, we’re going to factor in all those things in and do it the right way,” Fontenot said. “Ultimately, we always have to do what’s right for the Atlanta Falcons and make the best decisions. They’re going to help us win football games. But with any player, we’re going to look at what they’re doing on the field, we’re going to look at how they fit into the locker room, we’ll look at all those areas.”

6. So Jarrett is untouchable?

That sounded like an endorsement for Jarrett until Fontenot was asked if Jarrett was “untouchable.”

“With any player on the roster, we always have to do what’s best for the Atlanta Falcons,” Fontenot said. “That’s with anyone.”

Nothing new on Pitts, either: Fontenot comments on tight end Kyle Pitts were similar to the ones he made and at the end of season press conference.

“Kyle is a really talented player,” Fontenot said. “He’s done some really good things. You can make a highlight tape and see all of the good things that he has done. We talked about it at the end of the season, there is a really high expectation. What we are seeing at this point, Kyle, in his mind, he’s going to do everything he can do to make sure (he’s) helping this team win.

“When you take a player that high when know there is an expectation, probably an unreal expectation as player….we believe that Kyle is going to put everything he can into to be the best player he can for us and we’re going to do the same for him.”

7. Questions for the players

Fontenot was asked if the Falcons ask the prospects the same questions. “Another great question because the apples-to-apples stuff is important, and we try to, we do, adjust the interviews based off what we need to learn from that particular player in this setting,” Fontenot said. “So, we have about 18 minutes for every player in these formal interviews, so the college scouts do a really good job laying out what the important factors are that we need to learn from those particular players.”

8. Important offseason dates for the Falcons

Here’s what the offseason calendar looks like for the Falcons:

Tuesday: Beginning Tuesday through 4 p.m. March 4, clubs may designate Franchise or Transition Players. (Falcons don’t have any legit candidates. They are over the cap. Center Drew Dalman, getting the left tackle bounce, would get the offensive lineman tag of $25.13 million. There have not been any talks with outside linebacker Matthew Judon.)

Feb. 24-March 3: NFL Scouting Combine, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana.

March 4: Before 4 p.m., deadline for clubs to designate Franchise or Transition Players.

March 10-12: Free-agent negotiation period.

March 12: The 2025 league year and trading and free agency signing period begins at 4 p.m.

March 30-April 2: Annual league meeting, Palm Beach, Florida.

April 16: Deadline for clubs to time, test, visit, interview or conduct a physical examination with a draft-eligible player at its team facility.

April 21: Clubs with returning head coaches may begin offseason workout programs.

April 24-26: NFL draft. Green Bay, Wisconsin.

May 1: Deadline for fifth-year options for players selected in the first round of the 2020 draft. (such as Drake London, Falcons)

May 2-5 or May 9-12: Teams can hold one three-day post-draft rookie minicamp on one of two weekends following the draft.

June: Mandatory minicamp

Late July: Start of training camp

9. Falcons opponents for 2025 season

The Falcons’ opponents for the 2025 season are set.

The Falcons will play all teams from the NFC West and the AFC East.

Here are the home opponents: Carolina, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle, Bills, Dolphins and Washington.

The away opponents: Carolina, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Arizona, New England, New York Jets, San Francisco, Minnesota and Indianapolis.