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The Atlanta Falcons have made a quarterback change amidst Kirk Cousins’ struggles over the past five games, promoting rookie first-round pick Michael Penix Jr. to the starting position.
“After review we have made the decision Penix Jr. will be the Atlanta Falcons starting quarterback moving forward,” head coach Raheem Morris said in a statement. “This was a football decision and we are fully focused on preparing the team for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants.”
The move doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
Cousins, 36, has been dreadful over the past month, throwing one touchdown pass to nine interceptions in the past five games, taking 11 sacks. The Falcons are just 1-4 in those contests and nearly lost a fifth straight game on Monday night against the lowly Las Vegas Raiders, escaping with a 15-9 win when Jesse Bates II intercepted a pass in the end zone on the final play of the game.
Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell
Falcons basically abandoning the pass on first-and-10 last night told you what the organization thought of Cousins’s situation. They’re going to end up paying $85 million or so for about ten pretty good Cousins starts, which is a disaster. https://t.co/2oCTuDpxG9
Jason Reid @JReidESPN
Kirk left Raheem no choice. Not ideal with Cousins’ contract. And you’d rather not go to a rook with the division title still winnable. Again, though, Kirk left Raheem no choice. https://t.co/FjTT1SMYhv
The Falcons now sit at 7-7 on the season, one game behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South and two games behind the Washington Commanders for the final Wild Card berth. A change was needed to salvage their playoff chances.
Penix was drafted to be the quarterback of the future, though his selection called into question the wisdom of signing Cousins to a four-year, $160 million contract in the first place.
Now—assuming Penix holds down the starting job—the question will be whether the Falcons can find a trade partner for Cousins in the offseason, will have to carry his enormous salary on the books or will release him and eat the dead cap. One complicating factor is that Cousins has a no-trade clause:
Albert Breer @AlbertBreer
The structure of Kirk Cousins contract could make him tradeable for the Falcons—he is making a reasonable $27.5 million next year, and that’s all the guaranteed money he has left on his contract. https://t.co/sVBjO6MZ3T
Tom Pelissero @TomPelissero
The #Falcons are paying Kirk Cousins $62.5 million this season as part of the four-year, $180M deal he signed in March. He’s due $27.5M fully guaranteed in 2025. He also has a no-trade clause.
But today’s decision makes clear: The Michael Penix Jr. era has begun in Atlanta.
Granted, if Penix struggles down the stretch, the Falcons could simply choose to hold onto Cousins for one more season as insurance and release him ahead of the 2026 season, when his dead cap figure would drop to $25 million (compared to $65 million if they released him this upcoming offseason).
But at this point, it appears as though the Falcons are Penix’s team going forward. Cousins had his shot, and he quite literally threw it away.
