The Falcons are gearing up for the final seven games of the season during the bye week, and it will likely be Desmond Ridder facing the Saints in Week 12 as well as for the rest of the season.
It will be his last opportunity to prove he can be the long-term answer at signal caller, but I believe it shouldn’t matter what Ridder does over the stretch run. The Falcons cannot be satisfied with ‘just good enough’ at the quarterback position.
Eventually, it comes down to being special. There will come a point where all is failing but the quarterback somehow gets the job done. Complacency at the position is effectively limiting the ceiling of your club.
Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes are not walking through the door, but the Falcons have to be in the market for a new signal caller this offseason.
Whether it’s mortgaging a handful of first-round picks for Drake Maye or Caleb Williams, trading for an established veteran, or signing a free agent, the Falcons cannot go into the 2024 campaign with Desmond Ridder.
The most readily available avenue would be through free agency, and the top quarterback set to hit the open market is Kirk Cousins, who many expect to intrigue the Falcons.
“Multiple people I’ve talked to around the league consider Atlanta a sensible spot for Cousins, “Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported.
Tearing his Achilles complicates things, but Cousins was completing nearly 70% of his throws and had thrown 18 touchdown passes to five interceptions before the Week 8 injury. It’s also a seamless fit for Arthur Smith’s system with play-action elements in the passing game.
Cousins cannot be franchise-tagged, so he will hit the open market. He’ll likely command somewhere in the neighborhood of what Derek Carr did ($37.5 million AAV). Fowler of ESPN even doubled down in a separate article, predicting Kirk Cousins will be playing for the Falcons in 2024.
Get out your crystal ball: Where will Kirk Cousins be playing in 2024?
Fowler: I’ve started asking teams about this, and Atlanta comes up fairly often. The Falcons have improved their roster and need a quarterback to bring it all together. What coach Arthur Smith does on offense meshes with Cousins’ ability to utilize play-action. Cousins would find comfort in Atlanta’s talented roster of playmakers, similar to what he had in Minnesota. The chance to win is there. And though Cousins will be expensive, he is going on his fifth NFL contract (excluding franchise tags from the Washington days) and will turn 36 in August. A team set to have $36 million in cap space in 2024 should be able to handle his potential deal.
I like the idea of anyone other than Desmond Ridder being Atlanta’s quarterback next season. If health permits, I’d love to have Kirk Cousins, who was playing like a top 10 quarterback before his injury, in a Falcons uniform.
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