With an eye on the future, the Atlanta Falcons shocked many with their selection of Michael Penix Jr. in the 2024 NFL Draft.
That future is now, as Falcons head coach Raheem Morris announced Tuesday he's benching Kirk Cousins and Penix will start Sunday against the New York Giants and for the rest of the season.
"After review we have made the decision Michael Penix will be the Atlanta Falcons starting quarterback moving forward," 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."
Cousins has struggled mightily as of late, having thrown one touchdown to nine interceptions over Atlanta's past five games.
After Monday's 15-9 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, Morris, who had been steadfast in his support of Cousins, changed his tone and said the team would "look at everything" regarding the position. In a news conference earlier Tuesday, Morris was non-committal to Cousins remaining the starter.
That's led to Cousins, despite signing a four-year, $180 million free-agent contract prior to this season, heading to the bench and Penix heading into his first NFL start Sunday.
Thus, as 7-7 Atlanta hopes for a fruitful future with Penix, it must also examine what lies ahead with the 36-year-old Cousins.
Cousins ended his time with the Minnesota Vikings and his 2023 season with an Achilles tear before joining the Falcons on a long-term pact to become their franchise quarterback, but instead has lasted less than a season under center -- one in which he's made $62.5 million. He's being moved aside for Penix as the the club envisions amazing autumns ahead, but the Falcons must first deal with some unfortunate financials in the aftermath of sidelining Cousins.
Benching Cousins now avoids a situation in which the QB could be injured over the final three weeks of the season, which would lock in an addition $10 million guaranteed for injury, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported.
Pelissero also noted the Falcons' options with Cousins going forward, none of them all that enticing.
Should the team release him before March 16, 2025 without a post-June 1 designation, they would still owe Cousins $27.5 million in fully guaranteed cash to go with a $65 million dead cap hit.
If the Falcons cut Cousins before March 16 with a post June 1 designation, they would still owe him $27.5 million, but could spread the dead cap hit over two years -- $40 million in 2025 and $25 million in 2026.
There's also the option of trading Cousins, but the QB would have to sign off on it. Atlanta would then carry a dead cap number of $37.5 million in 2025, but save $27.5 million in cash and $2.5 million in cap, Pelissero added.
Finally, the Falcons could keep Cousins on the roster beyond March 16 with another $10 million becoming fully guaranteed. That choice would seem "unfathomable," Pelissero noted.
Just a day earlier, Cousins quarterbacked the Falcons to the aforementioned win over the Raiders. Within that victory, Cousins snapped a four-game drought without a touchdown. Still, he struggled, looking uneasy in the pocket, immobile as he has most of the season and far from as confident as he was in earlier games -- particularly wins over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which he threw eight touchdowns combined in two games.
For the season, Cousins has thrown for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns and a league-high 16 interceptions, with a pick in five consecutive games.
He will cede the reins to Penix, a 24-year-old with a live arm who has six years of college experience and two games' worth of NFL action.
Having come on to play during two blowout losses this season, Penix has completed 3 of 5 passes for 38 yards with no touchdowns.
Somewhat surprising is the timing as Morris stood behind Cousins through some ugly performances during the team's four-game losing streak.
Though Cousins didn't light it up against the Raiders on Monday night, he did fire off a TD pass to Drake London and the team came away with a win, putting the Falcons a game behind the Bucs in the NFC South.
Perhaps the timing had something to do with the scheduling. One major boon for Penix is he'll face a Giants squad that's lost nine straight.
Penix will now make his starting debut at home against a last-place team before following up at the Washington Commanders and fellow first-rounder Jayden Daniels and then the Carolina Panthers.
The former Washington Huskies standout will become the fourth 2024 first-round QB to start a game this season and the fifth rookie QB overall.
Having had no succession plan at QB following 14 seasons with Matt Ryan, it's clear that owner Arthur Blank and the Falcons wanted one with Cousins.
Stunningly, it took only 14 games to put that plan into motion.
