Kirk Cousins is no longer the starting quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons. Instead, eighth-overall pick Michael Penix Jr. will lead the struggling offense starting on Sunday against the New York Giants.
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— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 18, 2024
The #Falcons are making a major change, as Michael Penix Jr is expected to take over at QB, with Kirk Cousins going the bench.
Atlanta is still in the thick of the playoff hunt, and Cousins has struggled mightily. Now, Penix takes over. pic.twitter.com/xTPLBovmOd
The Dirty Birds will now move their $180-million quarterback to the backup role as the prized free-agent signing has proven to be a disaster.
Falcons have a lot of work to do after benching Kirk Cousins
The Atlanta Falcons went into the offseason with the plan of fixing their quarterback position. It started by signing Kirk Cousins to a massive contract that included $100M guaranteed.
Then they drafted Washington's Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth-overall pick.
The draft pick was met with an avalanche of criticism but that has now subsided—assuming Penix is what we think he is.
With the benching of Cousins, the Falcons will have a lot of work to do. They don't have the luxury of releasing him in the offseason. He will either be traded or remain on the roster as a ridiculously expensive backup.
To be fair to the Falcons front office, no one saw this coming. Cousins had been one of the NFL's best quarterbacks for a decade and he was playing like one up until a month ago. Since then, it has been an utter disaster.
We also cannot write Cousins off. A step back and more time to recover from his Achilles will be just what he needs..
The issue is now that Penix is starting, the Falcons can't go back to Cousins. He will either be a backup until the team can get out of the contract or he will be the leader of another team.
Ultimately, this was the right decision. Better late then never, I guess.