Tag: Chatter

While the Falcons prepare for a “Sunday Night Football” date with the Commanders, one that features the first primetime matchup in NFL history in which two first-round rookies are starting with postseason implications, rumors are swirling around Kirk Cousins.

According to NFL insider James Palmer of Bleacher Report, the Falcons believe Cousins cannot physically play the quarterback position anymore, which has led to the staff believing he was unplayable and his career might be finished.

“If you talk to anybody in Atlanta, they will tell you he has just fallen off a cliff, which does happen to some older quarterbacks,” Palmer said. “They believe he can’t play the position physically anymore. He just couldn’t play it physically any more in the eyes of the Falcons. That bled into some issues in the way he played the position mentally as well … It led into a position where they believed he was unplayable.”

This is an obviously terrible look for the Falcons organization. Arthur Blank, Rich McKay and the rest of the executives who were so desperate for relevance need to be held accountable. Terry Fontenot and his front office need to be held accountable for the contract. Raheem Morris and his coaching staff need to be held accountable for their assessment of Cousins’ physical ability.

Everyone in Atlanta should have to answer for their pursuit of the veteran. Not only were the Falcons willing to go above and beyond what the Vikings were from a dollars and cents perspective, but they tampered too, resulting in the loss of a fifth-round pick. There are financial, draft capital and PR ramifications for the Kirk Cousins acquisition.

Why did the Falcons wait so long to bench Cousins in favor of Michael Penix Jr.? Over a four-game stretch, Cousins threw eight interceptions and no touchdowns while the Falcons lost all of those games.

It completely contradicts everything the Falcons, mainly Raheem Morris, have said to the media since the beginning of the season. Atlanta’s head coach defended Cousins, especially physically, at every moment, even if everyone could see he’d lost a few miles on his fastball, one that was never particularly strong to begin with.

Perhaps the Falcons were so enthralled with Kirk Cousins through the free-agent process, desperate to return to relevancy, that they overlooked the possibility that he wouldn’t be the same post-Achilles surgery.

Of course, the Falcons had their own medical team take a physical of Cousins, but perhaps the organization as a whole realized they’d made a grave mistake after signing the veteran, prompting them to make a drastic decision of drafting Penix Jr.

Regardless of when the Falcons realized Cousins wasn’t who he was pre-Achilles, it’s all a terrible look for an organization that perpetually has pie on their face and has been an unmitigated disaster.