Falcons Put on Blast for Kirk Cousins Signing After QB's Career Worst Day

Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon argued the Atlanta Falcons should regret signing quarterback Kirk Cousins this past offseason.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The NFL schedule caters to media overreactions. But with each passing week, doubting the Atlanta Falcons as an NFC contender appears to be less and less of an overreaction.

In Week 13, quarterback Kirk Cousins played arguably the worst game of his 13-year career. As a result, the critics that argued in March the team shouldn't have signed Cousins are back out in full force.

Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon ranked signing Cousins as one of the top six decisions that NFL teams should regret the most from the 2024 offseason.

"Kirk Cousins hasn't bombed in Atlanta, but it's been more of the same from his time at Minnesota and Washington for an up-and-down 36-year-old who has been part of one playoff win in his 13-year NFL career," wrote Gagnon.

"The Falcons are now riding a season-crushing three-game losing streak, during which the quarterback has zero touchdown passes, six interceptions and a sub-60 passer rating.

"The worst of it came in an utter mess of a performance in a home loss to the Chargers on Sunday, and now momentum is building in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr. getting a shot under center.

"And that's where the Falcons really went wrong here. If you're going to use a top-10 pick on Penix, why are you spending $180 million on a notoriously inconsistent middle-aged veteran coming off a major injury?

"I don't know if Atlanta would be better positioned to make a Super Bowl run right now had it spent that money elsewhere and started Penix from the jump, but it doesn't look like a contender regardless."

It's difficult to say how the Falcons would look right now if they hadn't signed Cousins and instead spend that money elsewhere on the roster. Maybe the defense would be playing better with more money invested in the defensive line and linebacker units.

But it's important to keep in mind that the Falcons weren't 100% percent sure at the time of Cousins' signing that they would have the chance to draft Penix.

Based on how the Falcons' roster is currently constructed, Penix, or any of the other quarterbacks the Falcons have played since Matt Ryan's departure, would not have the Falcons at 6-6. Cousins has recorded 3 fourth-qurterback comebacks and already has more than 3,000 passing yards.

The Falcons needed just about every single one of his passing yards to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers twice.

The problem, though, is Cousins has been inconsistent. After 12 games, he doesn't appear capable of carrying the Falcons every single week. And in Week 13, he was the reason they lost.

If the Falcons could easily move on from Cousins after this season to begin the Penix era, the 2024 collapse would be a little easier to swallow. But that won't be the case.

Cousins will have a $40 million cap hit in 2025.

"It's a pickle, and it might have set the franchise back multiple years," wrote Gagnon.