Much is being made of what the Atlanta Falcons will do with Kirk Cousins' contract this offseason. Assuming Michael Penix Jr. is anything close to capable in the season's final three games there isn't a path back into the lineup for Cousins. It would take a truly awful showing from the rookie or an injury to open the door back up for Cousins to take over.
With this in mind, it is clear Atlanta's options are either a trade, cut, or making Cousins a historically paid backup quarterback. The final option is the least likely on the table only if the Falcons aren't all in on Penix. Cousins has a no-trade clause as well to further muddy the waters as to what the Falcons should do. A mess Atlanta created for themselves and will now be forced to pay the price.
Signing Kirk Cousins and drafting Michael Penix in the same offseason never made sense
The Atlanta Falcons handing the team over to the rookie quarterback doesn't excuse the draft choice no matter how well or poorly the rookie plays. The problem for Atlanta is the fact they handed Kirk Cousins $90-million guaranteed only to draft the same position weeks later. That is money that could have been spent on the defense or even better weapons around a rookie quarterback.
Even if they believed Penix wouldn't be ready to start the season subtract $10-million from this year's salary and go out and get Carson Wentz or Sam Darnold. The Falcons instead attempted to sell this as a situation we had seen before. They were the Green Bay Packers who brought in Jordan Love behind veteran Aaron Rodgers.
One slight problem with that comparison was the fact the Packers spent a later pick while already having built a playoff roster. The Falcons spent a top-ten pick on a position they just spent $180-million on having missed the playoffs since the 2017 season.
Hopefully, Penix is the next great quarterback and becomes a household name driving the Falcons back to relevance. Even if that were to happen, however, it doesn't remove the frustration and terrible management that will have defined this season.
No matter how the rookie quarterback plays your front office wasted time and resources spent on the same position. These are defining traits of a poorly run front office that has put their full support behind Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder in the past two seasons.
No matter how this plays out the Falcons are in a mess of their own design. One that demands changes and requires owner Arthur Blank to heavily consider what has led the Falcons here.