5 Possible missteps the Atlanta Falcons made in criticized offseason

2. Adding Michael Penix Jr. and Kirk Cousins in the same offseason

The more the Atlanta Falcons' offseason ages the less sense their quarterback management makes. If we want to boil it down to one simplistic reason it would be a want to always be good unwilling to risk being great.

Imagine the moves Atlanta could have made with the money they spent on Cousins if they fully believed in Penix. The flip side of this is if Cousins is your guy, you can't afford to be parting ways with the 8th overall pick for a two-year bench player.

Cousins is in his mid-thirties signing him to a 4-year deal worth $180-million is a win-now move. If the Falcons wanted to have another starting option there were far cheaper options on the market. Bring in Carson Wentz or Justin Fields as a bridge quarterback and draft Penix.

Instead, the team put all of their hope in Cousins but failed to follow through. If you're going to pay for the best quarterback on the market you owe it to the veteran and yourself to make win-now moves. Drafting a pass rusher, Rome Odunze, or trading down would all have qualified as such. The Falcons so scarred by Mariota and Ridder simply preferred to have stability and a chance to be consistently good than swinging for great.