Coming into the offseason, the Falcons had to address the quarterback position, and Raheem Morris acknowledged as much, saying he probably wouldn’t be in Atlanta if they had better quarterback play.
The organization didn’t fool around. Kirk Cousins and the Falcons agreed to a $180 million free agent contract, giving the organization its best quarterback since Matt Ryan. They weren’t done, though. Less than two months later, the Falcons made Michael Penix Jr. the highest-drafted quarterback since they took Ryan nearly two decades ago.
It shocked the NFL world, and rightfully so. The Falcons aren’t maximizing Cousins or Penix’s respective contracts by having them on the books at the same time. The plausible scenarios all have the Falcons either wasting away Penix’s rookie contract or taking dead cap hits from Cousins.
It doesn’t mean they can’t navigate an extremely difficult situation, but they’re certainly not off to a hot start. Ahead of the Falcons first training camp practice, Raheem Morris told Atlanta reporters that Michael Penix would split second-team reps with Taylor Heinicke.
Raheem Morris says Michael Penix Jr. and Taylor Heinicke will split second-team reps.
— Kelly Price (@thekellyprice) July 25, 2024
This is ridiculously inept management. Heinicke is a great backup quarterback on a very palatable contract after taking a pay cut earlier in the offseason; any club would be lucky to have a guy like him supporting their starter, but not the Falcons.
The Falcons are in a different place than a lot of other football clubs. Michael Penix Jr. should be the QB2 on this roster, even if Heinicke is the better option. If Kirk Cousins goes down for an extended period of time, we know Heinicke isn’t capable of leading the Falcons to the playoffs as we saw last year.
Penix, on the other hand, has an unwritten script. We know what Heinicke is at this point in his career; that isn’t the case with Penix. Moreover, he’s the future of this franchise. I don’t care how valuable training camp snaps are or aren’t; there’s no excuse not to give Penix every single opportunity possible.
Coming out of Washington, many considered Penix the most pro-ready of the quarterback prospects, other than Caleb Williams. The Falcons took him with the 8th overall pick to be the third-string quarterback? I hope for Raheem Morris’ sake, that’s not the case.
Taylor Heinicke shouldn’t be on this football team come Week 1. You drafted Michael Penix for a reason.
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Photo: Jordon Kelly/Icon Sportswire
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