The Kirk Cousins era in Atlanta may have ended after 14 games with the news that he is being benched in favor of Michael Penix Jr. starting with Sunday's game against the New York Giants.

It's not a surprise the move was made. If anything, it's surprising the Falcons waited this long to go with Penix. Cousins has thrown one touchdown and nine interceptions in the last five games.

The Falcons seemed to indicate they lost faith in Cousins throughout Monday's 15-9 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. He only attempted 17 passes in the game, including none on first downs in the first half.

Moving on from Cousins in the offseason take a big chunk out of the salary cap for the Falcons. Their most-likely move would be to designate him as a post-June 1 cut, which will come with a $40 million dead cap charge for 2025 and no cap savings.

Penix being on a rookie contract makes it easier to absorb that type of cap hit, but it will still have a negative impact on their ability to upgrade the roster around the young quarterback.

As for Cousins, the odds of him landing in a spot that guarantees him a starting job based on how he's played down the stretch this season seem low. He will have to decide if he is willing to compete to be a starter or take on a backup role if he becomes a free agent.

Here are the top potential landing spots for Cousins this offseason if the Falcons release him.

Cleveland Browns

It almost feels mean to suggest the Cleveland Browns could enter a season with Deshaun Watson and Kirk Cousins as their top two quarterbacks.

Browns fans have been seen some things for many years that no one should have to endure at the most important position on the field, but their options to upgrade are extremely limited because of Watson's contract.

Sorry, Browns fans, but Watson has to be on the roster in 2025. He has a $119.9 million dead cap hit if they tried to release him as post-June 1 cut.

Cousins will almost certainly be looking for a situation with an offensive coaching staff that he's familiar with.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, who is expected to be back next season, was Cousins' offensive coordinator for his first two years with the Minnesota Vikings from 2018 to '19. He threw for 7,868 yards and 61 touchdowns with a 60.4 QBR in those two seasons.

Cousins' style of play is also a much better fit for the type of offense that Stefanski wants to run than Watson ever was. Stefanski's offense at its best utilizes play-action passing for big chunk gains.

Watson was at his best with the Houston Texans running an RPO style and playing with empty backfields. He's always been a quarterback who takes a lot of sacks because he likes to take shots down the field, but that doesn't mesh with what Stefanski wants his offense to be.

Cousins isn't the same level of athlete he once was because of his age—he will turn 37 on Aug. 19, a few weeks before the start of the 2025 regular season—and coming off a torn Achilles. He can't get out of the pocket on boots like he once did, so Stefanski would have to adapt his system a bit to make it work.

It's not an ideal situation for the Browns to be in, but Cousins might be their best option to have someone who will challenge Watson to be the starter next season.

Tennessee Titans

Your guess is as good as mine about what the Tennessee Titans' plan at quarterback is going to be in 2025. It's safe to assume it won't include Will Levis after he was benched in the third quarter of Sunday's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals for throwing three interceptions on 12 pass attempts.

Do you know how bad you have to be to make the 2024 Bengals defense look good?

The simple answer for the Titans is to select someone with their first-round pick in the 2025 draft. The problem with that idea is they currently own the No. 6 pick, which may not be high enough to land a player like Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward.

Neither quarterback prospect is regarded in the same way someone like Caleb Williams was in the 2024 class. B/R's NFL scouting department has Ward and Sanders ranked back-to-back as the No. 8 and 9 overall prospects, but the value of the position all but ensures they will come off the board much sooner than that.

Once you get past Ward and Sanders, the next quarterback on the board is Alabama's Jalen Milroe at No. 37. All of this is to say pickings are slim if you're a team looking for a signal-caller in the draft.

Draft position will change for teams over the final three weeks of the regular season. The Titans are one of five teams with a 3-11 record. They are only one game ahead of the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants for the worst record in the NFL.

Cousins isn't anyone's idea of a long-term starter, but the Titans spent a lot of money this past offseason to bring in Calvin Ridley and L'Jarius Sneed. They didn't pan out as far as making this year's team competitive, but it did suggest a desire for a quick turnaround.

If the Titans don't land one of the top quarterbacks in the 2025 draft, they need a stop-gap option. Cousins could be the best available quarterback they might be able to get.

San Francisco 49ers

This one would probably take an acceptance from Cousins that he's not going to be guaranteed a starting job next season.

Brock Purdy's numbers this season aren't as gaudy as they were in 2023 because the infrastructure of the San Francisco 49ers isn't as strong as it was, but he's still playing arguably the best football of his NFL career.

There has been no indication the 49ers are wavering on giving Purdy a long-term extension when he becomes eligible to sign one during the offseason.

The backup quarterback spot is a position few teams know the value of more than the Niners. Purdy became their starter after impressing as a rookie in 2022 when he took over after injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo.

After Purdy had elbow surgery following an injury sustained against the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2022 NFC Championship Game, the 49ers brought in Sam Darnold in case they needed a temporary starter.

This past offseason was the first time in years the 49ers didn't really emphasize their No. 2 quarterback. They brought back Brandon Allen and signed Joshua Dobbs. Allen's lone start when Purdy was injured didn't go well. He finished 17-of-29 for 199 yards with one touchdown and two turnovers in a 38-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 12.

On top of potentially wanting to upgrade their backup quarterback spot, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan loves Cousins. There was a time when he tried to trade the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NFL draft to Washington for Cousins.

49ers general manager John Lynch previously acknowledged Shanahan had planned to sign Cousins as a free agent after the 2017 season before Garoppolo played well enough to earn a contract extension from the team.

All of these years later, Shanahan might have a chance to get his long-awaited reunion with Cousins if the four-time Pro Bowler wants to be a backup in a system he knows. Shanahan was Cousins' offensive coordinator for his first two seasons in the NFL with Washington from 2012 to '13.