Atlanta Falcons This was screwed into the royal family. A year ago, the organization decided to go all-in with Kirk's cousin. This operates under the misguided belief that the team is a quarterback away from the Super Bowl contest. Now they boast the most expensive backup in the league, but it's unclear if they really have plans for the future.
If Falcon decides it's best to move on from QB, then the best they can expect is the team (more specifically Cleveland Browns), come in and take your cousin out of your hand for a late round pix swap. This will take money from their books and remove the shadow of his cousin from behind Michael Penix Jr.
The trade issue was because the Falcons tainted his cousin in the NFL Draft shortly after signing him; Now he's throwing weight in his non-trade clauserefuses to accept the transaction until after the draft. This is because the previous Pro Bowl QB wants to know that history will not repeat itself and hopes that he will not be dealt with by the team just to see him draft a QB to replace him.
This assumes that Falcon will actI want it To exchange cousins, and that makes this all messy here. Publicly the organization was quiet about whether they were actually going to hear the cousin's offer or whether they were planning to pay a $27.5 million backup this season.
Ultimately, this all becomes one core issue. The Falcons were bullish enough to pick him out on the top 10 pick a year ago at Michael Penix Junior. do not have I want to have an answer and a contingency plan.
At this point, it's extremely difficult to know what Penix Jr. is as an NFL quarterback. Statistically, he was mediocre, but he looked better on tape than the numbers suggest. Two of his three intercepts came out of the bobble pass, but at least he showed off his big arm and confidence to try an impactful throw. The other side of this is him Should It looked great considering the opposition he faced in these three games. Two of the three opponents were the Giants and Panthers, ranked 24th and 32nd respectively. Penix completed less than 60% of the pass while there was a flash.
The Falcons may try to spin this out of their “optional” or “veteran QBs who can coach mentor penixes,” but the central issue is that Atlanta is sending mixed messages on every turn. They believe in Penix, but it's not enough to replace cousins. As they believed Cousins would take them over the hump, in 2024 it wasn't enough to draft much-needed defensive or offensive line help, taking QB instead.
This is an organization that has no identity under Raheem Morris. The coach stepped in a year ago and seemed fierce, troubled by the mandate that the team wanted to win with their cousin. I don't know if the Falcons want to focus on running the ball with Bijan Robinson as its center, or if they want to all-in with Penix in the passing game.
This is a fundamental problem that needs to be addressed. Atlanta can't move forward without a clear plan and can't plan clearly in the ongoing quarterback controversy. It's time for Atlanta to publicly announce that they are trying to find Kirk Cousins' trading partner, take the chunks with Penix and publicly announce that they have a vision for their football team. As it stands, they are fence sitters, and it just pulls out the process.
