As of the Thursday earlier than Memorial Day, it appears the Atlanta Falcons are glad to have veteran Kirk Cousins function their backup quarterback for the 2025 season after 2024 first-round draft decide Michael Penix Jr. changed Cousins within the beginning lineup in December.
For a mailbag revealed on Thursday, Falcons insider Josh Kendall of The Athletic was requested if he thinks there’s a situation the place Cousins “will get the beginning job again if Michael Penix Jr. is struggling and Cousins is wholesome.” Kendall defined why such a query “is the No. 1 purpose I’ve been a proponent of the Falcons getting Cousins out of the constructing a method or one other” earlier than Labor Day arrives.
“There needs to be that likelihood,” Kendall wrote. “Coach Raheem Morris and normal supervisor Terry Fontenot have been adamant that they make all selections based mostly on what’s greatest for the crew, and if Penix does battle, then going again to a quarterback with Cousins’ historical past positively needs to be thought-about.”
Again in March 2024, the Falcons seen Cousins as a quarterback worth a four-year, $180M contract that included $100M assured. He reportedly was more banged up than outsiders realized because the 2024 Falcons went from 6-3 to 7-7 earlier than Morris turned to Penix.
In the meantime, Penix tossed an interception that wasn’t his fault and accomplished 18-of-27 passes for 202 yards within the first regular-season begin of his professional profession, a 34-7 win over the New York Giants. Throughout the season’s remaining two weeks, he went 0-2 and connected on 54.8 % of 73 passes for 535 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
The Falcons didn’t discover a membership keen to pay “a significant portion of” Cousins’ wage earlier than groups such because the Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings crammed their quarterback rooms with different strikes. Aaron Rodgers is expected to signal with the Pittsburgh Steelers at any second, so the Falcons will probably want a unique crew to lose a starter to an harm to discover a commerce accomplice for Cousins earlier than Week 1.
Cousins not inflicting issues for the Falcons amid his need to move elsewhere doesn’t suggest Atlanta’s quarterback state of affairs will not get sophisticated if Penix seems like a rookie in September. One wonders if Morris will finally decide that Cousins’ presence within the locker room does extra hurt than good because it pertains to Penix’s improvement.
