Kirk Cousins Confirms Feelings on Return to Vikings After Falcons Cast Him Aside

The Minnesota Vikings played the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2 of the 2025 NFL season and lost 22-6 at home.

Though winning by a massive margin, it wasn’t Kirk Cousins who led the Falcons to victory. The Falcons started with Michael Penix Jr. at the quarterback position in week 2 against the Vikings. This left Cousins with backup duties.

Though Cousins did not get a chance to play against his former team in the U.S. Bank Stadium at all on Sunday, he expressed his feelings on returning to the fortress.

After the game, Cousins uploaded a picture with his wife Julie Hampton on the gridiron at the U.S. Bank Stadium on his official Instagram account.

He captioned the post:  “Lots of memories.” 

The couple was smiling at his old stomping grounds of US Bank Stadium.

Kirk Cousins delivered plenty of fireworks inside U.S. Bank Stadium during his Vikings years.

Not a single body from the Skol Nation can forget the 460-yard, four-touchdown masterpiece in the comeback against the Indianapolis Colts, in 2022.

The same year he steered Minnesota to a 13-4 season, repeatedly leading late drives at home.

Like the last-minute march that set up Greg Joseph’s franchise-record 61-yard game-winner against the New York Giants.

His 2024 return with the Falcons, though, was far less kind. The Vikings rolled to a 42-21 victory, handing Cousins his fourth straight loss as Atlanta’s starter. Reaction from fans was mixed, but one truth stands firm: Cousins gave Minnesota countless defining moments at U.S. Bank Stadium, securing his place in franchise history no matter how his career has unfolded elsewhere.

Why did the Falcons cast Kirk Cousins aside?

Kirk Cousins’ fall in Atlanta came fast.

After signing a four-year, $180 million deal to be the Falcons’ franchise quarterback, he was benched before the end of his first season.

A brutal five-game stretch sealed his fate — just 62.7% completions, nine interceptions to one touchdown, and only one win. That collapse overshadowed his early efforts, including a 509-yard, four-touchdown explosion against The Buccaneers that set a Falcons record.

The team’s pivot to rookie Michael Penix Jr. was just as decisive. Drafted eighth overall in 2024, Penix impressed enough in late-season starts that head coach Raheem Morris handed him the keys for 2025.

Cousins, meanwhile, was left holding the clipboard — not because of a lack of name value, but because the Falcons were done waiting for him to rediscover his form. Despite rumors of a cut or trade, his contract and lack of market suitors kept him in Atlanta, stuck behind the team’s new hope.

The Falcons’ quarterback depth chart adds to the intrigue. Penix is the present and future, Cousins is the high-priced backup, and Feleipe Franks has been converted into a tight end. Cousins’ story isn’t finished — one injury could put him back under center, and teams like Cincinnati have been floated as possible trade fits.

For now, though, Atlanta’s gamble is clear: Cousins is expensive insurance, not the franchise centerpiece he was supposed to be.