ATLANTA (AP) — The status of quarterback Kirk Cousins remains a backdrop to the Atlanta Falcons' plans for the NFL draft after he surprised some observers by reporting for the first day of the team's voluntary offseason program.
Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said Wednesday he was not surprised Cousins was present for Tuesday's first day of the offseason program.
“I wouldn’t say a surprise,” Fontenot said. “This is a voluntary thing. Whether a player comes or doesn’t come we have a lot of good professionals who we know are going to take care of their bodies, including Kirk.”
Fontenot has said the team is comfortable in having Cousins, 36, remain with the team as the backup to starter Michael Penix Jr., the team's 2024 first-round pick. Coach Raheem Morris said the team is open to listening to trade offers.
At the NFL meetings in Palm Beach, Florida, this month, Morris said the Falcons “still feel very strongly about Kirk being our backup quarterback.”
Morris also acknowledged Cousins would like an opportunity to start, even if for another team.
“We won’t hold him back if opportunity presents itself,” Morris said. "He’s made it clear he’d like to be a starter.”
There has been speculation the Falcons could cut Cousins, who signed a four-year, $180 million contract last March that included $100 million guaranteed. Cousins led the Falcons to a 6-3 start last season but lost his job after struggling with interceptions.
Any team expecting Cousins to be released would be less likely to make a trade offer for the veteran. Cousins' presence at the first day of the offseason program supports the team's stance that he remains in the plans for the 2025 season and will not be released.
Fontenot refuted a report the Falcons were asking any team trading for Cousins to pick up $20 million of his remaining guaranteed salary.
“We haven’t put a number on it,” Fontenot said. “We wouldn’t share specific conversations, but to answer your question we wouldn’t put a specific number on it.”
The Falcons could have saved a $10 million roster bonus by releasing Cousins. Instead, he is guaranteed $27.5 million, plus the $10 million bonus, in 2025.
The Falcons were 1-2 with Penix as the starter for an 8-9 final record. They have only five picks in the NFL draft, including the No. 15 overall selection in Thursday night's first round.
Atlanta added depth at quarterback this week by signing Easton Stick, a fifth-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2019. Stick played in only six games in six seasons.
Stick joins Emory Jones on the depth chart behind Penix and Cousins.
The Falcons could be interested in including Cousins in a draft-day trade as they look for pass rush help. They have the No. 46 overall pick in the second round and then one pick in the fourth round and two in the seventh.
“We’re going to do what’s best for this football team, whether that’s a trade or whatever it is,” Fontenot said when asked about his interest in trading Cousins.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
FILE - Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
FILE - Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) throws the ball before an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024 in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr., File)
ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.
Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.
U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.
"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”
Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.
Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.
“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”
Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.
U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.
Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.
Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.
Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.
"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.
The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.
The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.
“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.
“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”
The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
