Kirk Cousins may very well be benched fairly quickly — or not less than his teammates really feel QB2 Michael Penix Jr. may very well be a greater possibility below middle, says one NFL insider.
Cousins left the Minnesota Vikings 9 months in the past, latching onto the Atlanta Falcons’ roster for megabucks and authoring his profession’s third chapter on a workforce surrounded by dazzling playmaking choices. His squad started the season with a candy 6-3 file — within the driver’s seat to succeed in the playoffs however has faceplanted within the final six weeks.
The veteran passer additionally leads the NFL in interceptions and fumbles.
And when these forms of statistics bubble to the floor, a quarterback controversy usually ensues. In response to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Cousins’ teammates would possibly consider Penix Jr. is the higher match for the offense.
“I actually consider the one motive that they haven’t gone to Michael Penix Jr. but is due to optics. As a result of, the Falcons gave Kirk Cousins $100 million assured. I’ve had gamers inside that locker room inform me, level clean, Michael Penix Jr. is the most effective quarterback on this constructing,” Schultz said on FS1 airwaves late final week.
Atlanta truly has a wonderful offensive setup that includes weaponry like Bijan Robinson, Drake London, Darnell Mooney, and Kyle Pitts. There aren’t many excuses on offense to clarify the sudden downturn.
“The truth that they nonetheless have Kirk Cousins, who has the worst QBR within the crimson zone… who leads the NFL in picks (15), fumbles 12, and it is a workforce by the way in which with actually good expertise. You ask anyone round this league, and so they’ll inform you, they’ve nice weaponry. There’s Bijan, Pitts, London, Mooney, you go down the checklist. The truth that they’re nonetheless with Cousins is due to optics,” Schultz added.
Furthermore, the Falcons needed it this manner. They opted to pay Cousins mucho dinero in March and drafted Penix Jr. six weeks later. The draft decide completely mind-boggled everybody within the NFL, from rival executives, NFL followers, to Cousins personally.
The truth that gamers are enthusiastic about Penix Jr. — as a superior various to Cousins — is rather like Atlanta drew it up. The hand-off should happen someday, and based mostly on the trajectory of the 2024 marketing campaign, Cousins might, in principle, be benched as quickly as Week 16, often known as a day from now.
Atlanta takes on the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night time Soccer, desperately needing a dub to maintain tempo in NFC South with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
If Schultz is appropriate and the Falcons discover Penix Jr. throughout the the rest of the season or decide him over Cousins in 2025, slicing or buying and selling Cousins will price the franchise about $40 million in useless cap.
Cousins will flip 37 in August. Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the College of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his day by day YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The present options friends, evaluation, and opinion on all issues associated to the purple workforce, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates again to 1996. Listed responsible pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doorways (the band). He follows the NBA as carefully because the NFL.
All statistics supplied by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual info supplied by OverTheCap.com.
NFL Insider Delivers Kirk Cousins Bombshell
