The Atlanta Falcons are making the transfer they clearly didn’t wish to make – changing veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins with rookie Michael Penix Jr. beginning instantly.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris announced the decision Tuesday night time in an announcement launched by the crew.
“After overview we’ve got made the choice Michael Penix Jr. would be the Atlanta Falcons beginning quarterback transferring ahead,” the assertion learn. “This was a soccer choice and we’re totally targeted on getting ready the crew for Sunday’s sport in opposition to the New York Giants.”
That assertion got here lower than 4 hours after Morris had hinted at the move throughout a repeatedly scheduled information convention the day after the Falcons improved to 7-7 by beating the Raiders 15-9 in Las Vegas.
“We didn’t play significantly effectively on the quarterback place,” Morris stated. “That’s the factor that’s bought to be addressed.”
Penix was drafted eighth by the Falcons in April. It was a shock transfer on the time contemplating the group had signed Cousins to a four-year free-agency deal the earlier month that assured the 13-year veteran $90 million in wage the primary two seasons and had a complete potential value of $180 million.
The plan on the time was to take a seat Penix behind Cousins for at the very least a yr, and Morris had been holding out hope as lately as final week that he may persist with that plan. The pinnacle coach, who was employed in January, repeatedly referred to Penix as “the long run” and stated the Falcons have been dedicated to their “plan” on the place.
“You may take a look at organizations which have put younger guys on the market too early, and it’s gone horrible and I don’t wish to be that man,” Morris stated final week. “I do know the plan that I’ve and what I wish to do for that younger man.”
Nevertheless, Cousins’ final 5 video games satisfied the Falcons they might not persist with the plan. He threw 9 interceptions and one landing in that span and ranked thirty third within the league in anticipated factors added per dropback (minus-.14). When the quarterback was informed Monday night time that Morris stated he wanted to play higher, Cousins replied, “It’s stating the apparent.”
“I don’t suppose that’s a thriller,” he stated after passing for 112 yards. “Each week you undergo your course of and plan to go on the market and play the perfect you may. This week shall be no completely different.”
Morris stated Tuesday that he didn’t discover any bodily points with Cousins that “soar off the web page.” The 36-year-old returned this season from a ruptured Achilles tendon that ended his 2023 season after eight video games.
“A few of it’s pure progress of abrasion by means of a soccer season,” Morris stated of Cousins’ look within the pocket.
The begin to Cousins’ season made it appear like Atlanta’s long-term plan was going to work. He was fourth within the league in passing yards (2,328) and touchdowns (17) and seventh in EPA per dropback (.15) by means of Week 9, and the Falcons raced to a two-game lead within the NFC South.
From there, although, Atlanta misplaced 4 straight and fell behind Tampa Bay (8-6) within the division as Cousins floundered. In response to The Athletic’s projections, the Falcons now have a 23 % likelihood to win the division and a 31 % likelihood to make the playoffs.
“Kirk bought us into a degree of competition,” Morris stated final week. “You need to have the resolve to remain steady-handed with a man you imagine in. I don’t wish to be like some organizations that make harsh selections in your folks after they make their errors. It’s our job and my job to again him on the highest degree of certainty to get him to get on the market and play higher. He’s going to come back out of this factor, and he’s going to go on a run right here.”
He didn’t, although, and now the Falcons are turning to Penix, the previous College of Washington quarterback who led the Huskies to the nationwide title sport final season and twice was a Heisman Trophy finalist. How the Falcons deal with Cousins from right here is an open query. It will price them $65 million in lifeless cash in the event that they launched him after this season, in response to Over the Cap. In the event that they maintain on to him by means of the 2025 season both in a return to the beginning position or as a backup, they might reduce him after that season and incur solely a $25 million lifeless cap hit.
The Falcons may additionally try and commerce Cousins this offseason. The Raiders, Titans and Giants are anticipated to draft a quarterback however may additionally be taken with bringing in a veteran to assist the transition. The Saints, Panthers, and Jets may additionally make modifications.
Cousins’ monitor report of success will give him some worth on the commerce market regardless of this season, during which he stands seventeenth in EPA per dropback (minus-.05). Nevertheless, his time ends in Atlanta, this isn’t how anybody envisioned it.
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(Picture: Kevin Sabitus / Getty Photographs)
