At this point, the offseason narratives surrounding the Atlanta Falcons are getting repetitive and sickening. Even though everything Matt Ryan has said and done has pointed to the contrary, too many people believe that the Falcons don't believe in Michael Penix Jr. as their franchise quarterback.
Most real Falcons fans believe in Penix, but the speculation has gotten impossible to ignore for some people. Former CBS Sports and NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora dropped a major update where he revealed an NFL GM told him Atlanta is expected to be involved in the starting QB market.
Honestly, I'm not seeing where this makes sense. Not only has Ryan been vocal in his support of Penix, Kevin Stefanski has too. A major reason as to why why the Dirty Birds hired Stefanski was to work to develop the 25-year-old, especially since he employs a system that will cater to his strengths.
While La Canfora's points about Penix's injury history are valid, he was consistently set up to fail by a horrible coaching staff in his first two seasons. Now, Stefanski and the support system he has given him are much better to the point he should take a step forward once he returns from injury in 2026.
The Falcons are not going to be the major players in the QB market the media wants them to be
My big problem with JLC's article is that a lot of his criticisms of Penix felt weirdly misguided to the point where he was stretching things so they would fit his narrative. He's a young QB who has shown flashes of his potential, yet this guy is acting as if Penix is Justin Fields or Geno Smith or something.
La Canfora's article also revealed that the Washington product's recovery from his ACL tear could etend long past Week 1, which seems like he pulled that out of thin air. Penix himself has even admitted he's on a good trajectory to be ready for Week 1, but he apparently missed that report.
There is no reason the Falcons are going to break the bank on a veteran QB when they are cutting Kirk Cousins. If they really felt comfortable paying big money to sign a QB to push Penix. they would'e just kept Cousins, but they instead covet financial flexibility to retain some of their key free agents.
Rather than pursuing someone like Tua Tagovailoa, Derek Carr, or Kyler Murray, the Falcons would be better suited signing someone like Joe Flacco, who played for Stefanski, is friends with Ryan, and overlapped with Ian Cunningham in Baltimore and Philadelphia. This just makes too much sense now.
Just because Atlanta has a new regime coming in doesn't mean they are going to overhaul the QB position. Penix's career still has a lot of meat left on the bone, and the 2024 first-round pick will get a chance to see what he can do as the starter in 2026, which is the correct decision in my eyes.