Falcons' decision to bench Kirk Cousins makes Vikings look quite prescient

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah letting Cousins walk and signing Sam Darnold has aged incredibly well.

Dec 8, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) and Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) talk after the game at U.S. Bank Stadium. / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Falcons announced on Tuesday their decision to bench quarterback Kirk Cousins and make rookie Michael Penix Jr. their starter moving forward. At 7-7, they're just one game back in the NFC South, and they've decided that Penix gives them a better chance to win. Considering Cousins has thrown one touchdown and nine interceptions over the last five games, the move isn't shocking.

Somewhere, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah saw the news and was likely transported back to the events of this spring. No one in Minnesota's organization was rooting for this, of course. It's a difficult reality for a person who meant a lot to the Vikings over the past six years. But Atlanta's QB change solidifies something that had been clear for a while, which is that Adofo-Mensah and company made one of the best decisions in recent franchise history when they let Cousins walk out the door and signed Sam Darnold to help replace him.

The Vikings reportedly had interest in bringing Cousins back this offseason after his excellent 2023 campaign was cut short by an Achilles tear. But they also had limits on how much they were willing to commit to a now-36-year-old quarterback coming off a serious injury. They had no interest in matching what Cousins got from Atlanta, which was a four-year, $180 million contract that includes $90 million guaranteed. Commendably, the Vikings stuck to their process.

The Falcons' willingness to give Cousins that contract may have helped the Vikings dodge a bullet. He'd presumably have better numbers this year had he returned to Minnesota and Kevin O'Connell, but how much better? The tape of Cousins' 14 games with Atlanta shows a quarterback who might no longer be capable of playing high-level football in the NFL. He struggles to plant his right foot and drive the ball with the same zip he once had, and he can hardly move outside the pocket, which is why the Falcons haven't been able to utilize his usual effectiveness in play-action.

It might be over pic.twitter.com/VuIYg7V4OQ

— Billy M (@BillyM_91) December 4, 2024

Everything that has made this Vikings season so successful can be traced back to the moment Cousins inked his deal with Atlanta. Adofo-Mensah pivoted at the quarterback position, signing Darnold to a one-year, $10 million deal to be their bridge option to a rookie, who turned out to be tenth overall pick J.J. McCarthy. Darnold has smashed all expectations this season, thriving under O'Connell and reviving his career. And the money the Vikings saved by not paying Cousins (or Danielle Hunter) helped them sign a boatload of free agents — Darnold, Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, Blake Cashman, Aaron Jones, Stephon Gilmore, the list goes on — who have played crucial roles on a 12-2 team that appears to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

Even if Cousins had come back to the Vikings and played fairly well, it's very difficult to envision a situation where they're 12-2 with him as their quarterback. They simply wouldn't have been able to sign all of the players who have helped make this season special. Most importantly, they wouldn't have Darnold, who has been one of the best stories in the league in 2024. The former No. 3 overall pick has been an incredible fit in O'Connell's scheme, giving the Vikings' offense another dimension with his arm talent, athleticism, and ability to combine the two to make things happen outside of structure.

Darnold has been miles better than Cousins this season at a fraction of the price. The Vikings' current quarterback has thrown for 3,530 yards with 30 total touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and a 104.9 passer rating. Cousins' Falcons tenure will likely come to an end with these numbers: 3,508 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, 16 interceptions (currently the most in the league), and an 88.6 rating. The Week 14 matchup between the two teams put the success of the Vikings' offseason decisions in the limelight, as Darnold threw for five TDs and no picks in a 21-point win over the Falcons and Cousins, who threw two interceptions and no touchdowns.

Adofo-Mensah's moves this spring have aged remarkably well. The Vikings are in the midst of a season that has a chance to reach rare heights. They'll have a decision to make on Darnold next offseason, with McCarthy waiting in the wings, but that can wait for now. What's abundantly clear is that they were right to be OK with moving on from Cousins, who delivered just one Vikings playoff win in six years on big contracts.

The Falcons' process, which remains bizarre, could help them survive this. A month after giving Cousins a huge deal, they stunned everyone by using the No. 8 pick on Penix. Now that they've turned things over to the rookie, they're almost certainly going to cut or trade Cousins in the spring and eat a bunch of dead money in the process. But if Penix pans out, that dead cap over the next year or two won't matter too much. The big question is how they felt comfortable signing Cousins to this contract if they had concerns about his Achilles, which the Penix pick would seem to indicate.

As for Cousins, there's a chance this could be the end of his decade-long run as a quality NFL starter. If the player he's been recently is who he is now, he might just be done. He's looked like a shell of himself, and it's possible the injury accelerated his age curve. But that's not a guarantee. There's also a chance that with an extended offseason of recovery, he bounces back in a new situation in 2025. Given his track record, a team will give him an opportunity if he desires one.

Sam Darnold is an MVP contender and Kirk Cousins has been benched with his team in a mid-December playoff hunt. Imagine hearing that earlier this year. Even the Vikings can't have imagined things playing out exactly like this. But when you have a good plan and stick to it, like Adofo-Mensah did, sometimes it all works out brilliantly.

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