Last year, Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins received $62.5 million for 14 starts. This year, he'll get $27.5 million for, if all goes as planned and their preferred quarterback remains healthy, one start.

And that's likely where Cousins's time in Atlanta will stop.

The Falcons didn't release Cousins after making Michael Penix Jr. the 2025 starter because they hoped to get something of value in exchange for the balance of Cousins's four-year, $180 million contract. They kept him around, even though another $10 million roster bonus due in 2026 became fully guaranteed.

Now, with no trade opportunity ever coming close to materializing, they have to decide whether to cut him before the fifth day of the 2026 league year, when the $10 million will be paid.

If they do, the $10 million becomes subject to offset. There's a chance, depending on the looming quarterback carousel, that someone will pay him more than $10 million next year, which would stop the bleeding of Arthur Blank's money at $90 million.

Regardless, Cousins will have gotten $90 million for 15 games. That's $6 million per game. Which continues to prove that Cousins is perhaps the best quarterback-businessman in NFL history.

If the Falcons cut him with a post-June 1 designation, they'll carry $12.5 million in cap charges for 2026 and 2027. If they don't, the full $25 million will hit the cap next year. (If they decide to keep him as Penix's backup, he'll make a total of $45 million next year, pushing his three-year take to $135 million.)

If they move on, the Falcons will have paid $90 million and gotten a limited return on the investment.

At best, the move bought the Falcons the ability to lurk at selection No. 8 in the 2024 draft. No one thought they would pick Penix, or any other quarterback available in that spot. Which meant no one even considered the potential necessity of leapfrogging the Falcons to No. 7 or higher.

That's still a huge price to pay to ensure that Penix would be available. And it puts even more pressure on the Falcons to get the most out of Penix, who is 3-4 as a starter in 2025 and 4-6 overall.

In short, they made a bang-bang pair of bold moves at quarterback. The first one absolutely did not work. If the second one doesn't come close to offsetting the first, there will be another inevitable housecleaning in Atlanta.

The only question at this point is when Blank will decide to press the button.