FLOWERY BRANCH — The Falcons had two major offseason projects in 2024.
They had to replace fired coach Arthur Smith and then find a quarterback.
The coaching search was first with Bill Belichick looming as the major target. The Falcons interviewed 14 candidates and hired Raheem Morris.
The quarterback search also was complicated.
The Falcons tried to move on from the Matt Ryan era, but Deshaun Watson took Cleveland’s more lucrative offer in 2021.
Stuck. They traded Ryan to the Colts and took stopgap measures by signing Marcus Mariota and then drafting Desmond Ridder in the third round (74th overall) of the 2022 draft.
After two seasons and back-to-back 7-10 records, the Falcons elected to go after Kirk Cousins, who was widely considered the top veteran free-agent quarterback on the market. They pulled out of the stops — even caught the rare tampering charge from the NFL office — and signed Cousins to a four-year worth up to $180 million.
However, the Steelers, who also moved on from Kenny Pickett, elected to sign Russell Wilson and trade for Justin Fields. They are 10-3 and sitting atop the rugged AFC North with Smith as their offensive coordinator.
Wilson signed a one-year, veteran-minimum deal of $1.21 million, while Denver paid $39 million to get rid of him. The Steelers sent a sixth-round pick that could turn into a fourth-round pick — based on playing time — to the Bears for Fields.
The Falcons faced Fields in the season opener, while Wilson, a nine-time Pro Bowler, recovered from a calf injury. The Broncos, under new coach Sean Payton, basically ran Wilson out of town.
Sam Darnold, a former third overall draft pick by the Jets, signed a one-year deal, $10 million deal with the Vikings. He was supposed to back up rookie J.J. McCarthy, but he suffered a season-ending knee injury. Darnold has led the Vikings to a 11-2 mark and is a candidate for the comeback Player-of-the-Year award.
Also, the Raiders elected to sign veteran Gardner Minshew II to a two-year, $25 million deal. He was in and out of the lineup before suffering a broken collarbone.
Cousins has completed 292 of 436 passes (67%) for 3,396 yards, 17 touchdowns and a league-leading 15 interceptions. He has a passer rating of 89.
Wilson has completed 138 of 213 passes (64.8%) for 1,784 yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions. He has a passer rating of 103.9.
After signing Cousins, the Falcons also used the eighth overall pick in the draft to select former Washington and Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. He was the fourth quarterback taken in the draft after Caleb Williams (first), Jayden Daniels (second) and Drake Maye (third). McCarthy was taken 10th overall, and Denver selected Nix with the 12th pick.
Daniels and Nix have their teams in the playoffs hunt.
Things got off to a good start for the Falcons as they raced to a 6-3 start. But after a four-game losing streak, the Cousins signing is being placed under the microscope.
“What an awful stretch it has been for Kirk Cousins, who ranks 32nd over the last four weeks, with only Drew Lock behind him,” wrote Bob Rolfe for the Pro Football Network. “Cousins has thrown (eight) interceptions without a touchdown in the last four games, and seems to be falling apart as opposed to kicking on in the second half of his first season in Atlanta. We have reached the point where people are questioning whether he needs to be benched.”
Cousins is trying to be analytical while critiquing his play with hopes of pulling out of his slump.
“So, much of it, too, is just loving the guys you’re playing with and trusting them, too,” Cousins said. “You know I’ve got great people around me in the huddle and up on the line of scrimmage that I just kind of always say I got to just trust them and know that I’m in it with them. That takes some of the pressure off, too.”
The Falcons are riding with Cousins through this rough patch. They saw improvement Sunday against Minnesota after he threw four interceptions the game before against the Chargers.
Cousins threw for 344 yards against the Vikings, but the Falcons continued to stall inside the opposition’s 20-yard line, and he had two more interceptions.
The Falcons don’t believe that benching Cousins would solve their issues.
“When you lead an organization, and you have to have trust and belief in the people that got you to where you were, right?” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “Kirk came here, and he got us to a point that we are in a playoff contention. You have to believe, and you have to have the resolve to be able to stick and stay steady-handed by the guy that you believe in.”
It’s a different approach from Smith, who benched Ridder twice last season as he saw the team’s playoff hopes slipping away.
Morris is working with a veteran quarterback, whom he’s known from earlier in both of their careers in Washington.
“I don’t want to be like some organizations who make harsh decisions or critical decisions on your critical decision-makers when they fail you or they make their mistakes, right?” Morris said. “I just feel like it’s our job and my job to back him at the highest level of certainty to get him to get out there and play better.”
Morris hasn’t considered handing the football to Penix.
“This has nothing to do with a nonbelief of our backup or anything like that, but he is a rookie,” Morris said. “We do have a plan. We have had a plan from the beginning on how we want to utilize and be able to play our rookie when it’s time.”
If Cousins doesn’t come out of his slump, the time may come sooner than later.
“I told you right from the beginning, he’s our future, right?” Morris said. “So, Day One down here at the hardest draft meeting, right? When the unexpected thing happened, we take Michael Penix with eighth overall pick, and our future’s getting ready.”
The Falcons are fine with Penix working with the scout team this season. He played in mop-up situations against the Seahawks and Broncos.
“For our future to go out there and be preparing like he’s preparing ... to be able to have the wherewithal to support Kirk and all this stuff, too,” Morris said. “It’s a great learning lesson for him as well.
“So, when you go through all that process, you can look at different organizations that’s pulled the trigger and put guys out there too early, and it’s gone terrible. I don’t want to be that guy.”
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