Sports Illustrated's Matt Verderame wrote a piece about the biggest roster decisions for all 16 teams in the NFC, from the Arizona Cardinals to the Washington Commanders. Most of it was very insightful; he briefly looked into the Commanders' weaponry around Jayden Daniels, the contingency plan for the quarterback position in Seattle, etc. However, for the Atlanta Falcons, Verderame raises the question: "Is it time to find Michael Penix, Jr.'s replacement?"
Not many would have a similar inquiry for the Falcons organization for at least a few more years.
The Falcons signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract this offseason, making him the biggest acquisition by any team in free agency. Then, in a stunning twist, they drafted Penix, who at 25 years old will sit for at least two years behind Cousins. General manager Terry Fontenot must already be thinking about the next succession plan. We’re kidding … we hope.
I get it, it's a joke. All in good fun, but to me, it feels unwarranted. The Falcons have been building this roster, specifically the offense, around the quarterback since General Manager Terry Fontenot first got into office. Fontenot waited for years for his guy to be there in the first round, and he finally was in this year's draft. The only problem was that Atlanta had just sunk $180 million six weeks prior, making it seem that Cousins would be that guy.
In this new world that Fontenot has built for Falcons fans to choose to buy into, Cousins is still the prime beneficiary of Fontenot's efforts to construct a contender around the quarterback position. He just becomes an expensive rental until they are ready to buy into the Penix, Jr. experience.
It's sort of like buying a reliable cash car before you're ready to splurge on the vehicle you really want. Only the cash car wasn't an '09 Nissan Altima. It was a 2018 Lexus ES that you may still be paying on in a couple of years if it doesn't run like you expected.
Is that a good way to go about building your roster? It's certainly risky. Atlanta is placing a large bet that last year's roster was good enough for one of those seven playoff spots, they were just a quarterback away. So, the front office went out and got two: One for now and one for later, like the candy. All things considered, Atlanta seems to have done enough to be considered playoff contenders, especially in a weak NFC South division.
Either way, it seems the Falcons will continue to be the butt of jokes like Verderame's for a while longer, at least until Penix or Cousins can quiet the doubters with their play on the field.