Falcons land Kirk Cousins: Could he be the answer?

Mar. 12—The Atlanta Falcons signed Kirk Cousins away from Minnesota to take over as quarterback. Between the draft and free agency, this was the time to get a QB. The Falcons have the eighth pick in the 2024 draft, too late to grab one of the top QB's, and so they nabbed the top free agent QB in Cousins.

The quarterback position has been in flux in Atlanta since Matt Ryan was traded to Indianapolis in 2022. The Falcons have had three consecutive 7-10 seasons in a weak division that they could have easily won had it not bee for some mismanagement. Some of the Falcons' young skills players we criminally underused and, let's be honest, Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke were not the Falcons quarterback of the future.

Despite being 35 years-old, Kirk Cousins could be that guy for Atlanta. The biggest question surrounding the former Viking is how well will he bounce back from his Achilles injury sustained in week eight of last season.

Before the injury, Cousins was having a solid season, leading the NFL in passing yards per game. Cousins has kept the Vikings consistently in the mid tier of the NFL. They were 12th in points per game during his six years with the franchise.

Now, he will step into a situation that is likely just a solid QB away from playoff success.

Cousins will be throwing two some young and exciting talent in Drake London and Kyle Pitts. The Falcons also have Bijan Robinson, who has already established himself as a top running back in the league, meaning that the Falcons could have a very balanced and very good offense. Compile all of that with the fact that Atlanta has the best offensive line in the NFL and the addition of Cousins makes them a very dangerous team.

For Atlanta, this really needs to work for three reasons.

One: their owner isn't getting any younger. Arthur Blank is 81 years-old and has a very real desire to win now.

Reason two: This is the perfect time to be a good football team in the NFC South. The division is the weakest in football. No team has an established quarterback, as Derek Carr and Baker Mayfield feel like place holders at the moment. If you have a solid team you can probably clinch a division title in the NFC South right now.

Reason three: The money. Atlanta went all in on Cousins, signing him to a four-year deal worth $180 million; $100 million of that is guaranteed money and he gets $50 million as a signing bonus. That is a lot of money to put into a 35-year-old QB who is coming off an Achilles injury and has a career playoff record of 1-3.

However, Cousins is more than capable of winning and he hasn't exactly been in the most potent situations in his 12-year career. He spent his first six years in the league with Washington and the last six in Minnesota. Maybe Atlanta finally has the bevy of weapons that Cousins needs to have some real success.