Former Vikings QB on Hot Seat
Kirk Cousins is in a rut.
Former Vikings QB on Hot Seat
The former Minnesota Vikings quarterback, now employed by the Atlanta Falcons, hoped his team’s Week 12 bye would change his fortune. Instead, all things Falcons got worse, and Atlanta lost to the Los Angeles Chargers at home on the back of four Cousins interceptions — and no touchdowns.
And because the Falcons shockingly drafted Michael Penix Jr. in Round 1 last April, the franchise set itself up for this situation — Cousins on the hot seat at the start of December.
Let’s face it: any football team can only roll with a QB1 handing out picks like Halloween candy for so long. Cousins rarely produces back-to-back horrid games, and three consecutive stinkers are close to unprecedented for the 36-year-old passer.
But with Penix Jr. waiting on the bench as QB2, Cousins must fix his errant ways or risk losing his QB1 gig down the stretch of 2024 or in the offseason. ESPN’s Dan Graziano even commented on the budding controversy this week.
“This was absolutely bound to happen if and when Cousins hit a rough patch, and the Falcons absolutely did this to themselves when they used that eighth overall pick on Penix a month after signing Cousins to a huge free agent contract,” Graziano wrote. “Fans who believed Cousins was the key to unlocking this highly skilled offense will surely be calling for Penix at this point. And who knows? It’s possible the thought has come up inside the Falcons’ building, as well.”
Conveniently for Cousins, he’ll have added motivation this weekend as his Falcons take on the Vikings, a club he led for six seasons. It’s all on the line for Cousins to change the dialog this Sunday.
“Asking a rookie who has never started an NFL game to come in with five games left and save the season is an awful lot. If Atlanta makes this move and Penix can’t get it done, it’s going to be pretty tough to go back to Cousins — this year or next,” Graziano continued. “The Falcons’ self-inflicted QB conundrum is a sticky one, I’m not denying that. But it still seems like the best bet for turning things around is the veteran who has been through this before. If it doesn’t work, the Falcons can make the change in the offseason and move on from Cousins after one year.”
Cousins ranks 17th per EPA+CPOE among qualifying quarterbacks, an efficiency metric measuring wins added. He’s in the same statistical category as Justin Fields.
If the Falcons cut ties with Cousins before June 1st, 2025, they’d be on the hook for $65 million in dead cap — a Russell Wilson-like situation. Trading Cousins or waiting until after June 1st would result in roughly $40 million in dead cap.
On the whole, this is how Atlanta wanted it. Drafting Penix Jr. ensured this discussion at the first sign of any Cousins-related turmoil.
The Vikings are favored to defeat Cousins and the Falcons by 4.5.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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