Inside Falcons' $64 Million Course Correction, Sunday Playoff Shakeup | 4 Downs

A new era has dawned for the Atlanta Falcons, with a lot of credit due to head coach Raheem Morris and owner Arthur Blank.

Nine months after committing $150 million fully guaranteed to Kirk Cousins, and eight months after shockingly selecting Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 overall pick in this spring’s draft as the Falcons’ quarterback of the future, Morris permanently turned the page to the future by benching Cousins in favor of Penix Jr. Sunday against the New York Giants.

This was a colossal, franchise-altering, jarringly expensive move made for the organization's long-term betterment while preserving whatever flickering postseason aspirations remain in the present for Atlanta.

“This was a really good and smart move by the Falcons,” a rival NFC Personnel Executive tells me. “Kirk just can’t move anymore, and Michael Penix is a better thrower. He’s more accurate.”

Inside this column, Jayden Daniels and the Commanders take advantage of a Jalen Hurts injury that threatens to dramatically alter the NFC Playoff race, Joe Burrow’s brilliant stretch continues, and an attempt to define the state of the races for the top seeds in the playoffs.

For as much criticism as Blank, Morris, general manager Terry Fontenot, and the Falcons weathered in April for selecting Penix Jr., the move in December looks prescient and forward-thinking, and not just because of the absurdly overweighted emphasis on the quarterback position in the NFL. Rather, because without even taking a snap, Penix Jr. offers a better chance of salvaging Atlanta’s season than does Cousins.

This particular Falcons team is fortunate Penix is on this roster.

After all, Cousins was in the midst of a nightmarish stretch, with just one touchdown pass and nine of his league-leading 16 interceptions over the past five games before his benching this week.

“It seems like they just want to see what they have,” an NFL coordinator tells me, on the condition of anonymity to speak freely about another team. “They want him to do well so they can get rid of Kirk. They’ll have $65 million in dead-money if they do move on from Cousins.”