What happened to Kirk Cousins? Examining why the Falcons benched their $294,000,000 quarterback

The Atlanta Falcons had a rather unusual plan for the 2024 season. While a first-round pick gave them Michael Penix Jr., they also gave 36-year-old Kirk Cousins, who was coming off an Achilles tendon injury, a $180 million contract. Unfortunately, the situation turned out exactly as fans feared.

In the first year, Cousins ​​​​got the starting signal, but the 15 weeks were less than ideal. As a result, Penix made his first start in an NFL game last week after the Falcons benched Cousins. The Falcons are determined to follow that model as their playoff hopes hang in the balance.

What went wrong with Kirk Cousins ​​and the Falcons?

It’s been a long road for the Falcons this season. After the 2-2 result, where Cousins ​​failed to impress, many were still waiting. Given the Achilles tendon injury that ended his 2023 season in Week 8, a small hiccup wasn’t unusual.

Then Week 5 began a spectacular stretch in which Cousins ​​led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to over 500 yards and four touchdowns. He would continue that momentum as the team looked solid at 6-3, having just beaten the Dallas Cowboys in Week 9.

Then it got worse. The team lost four straight as Cousins ​​failed to score a single touchdown and gave up eight interceptions. Their record deteriorated and the playoffs were at stake.

One last chance for the Las Vegas Raiders brought them victory. However, Cousins ​​​​once again did not deliver a flawless game. Ultimately, Atlanta saw no other option than to bench him in favor of their rookie. With his career TD rate of 5.8% being his lowest and the team needing wins soon, this wasn’t a complete surprise.

MORE: Updated playoff series for Week 17

Ultimately, the Falcons still have a shot at the playoffs based on their WL record against Tampa Bay and the general state of the NFC South. Therefore, they were willing to trust the rookie instead of their $180 million quarterback.

What makes the situation worse is that the team could cut Cousins ​​from the roster entirely, although the salary cap implications would remain.

How much did Cousins ​​earn in his career?

Through 2024, Cousins ​​is the sixth-highest earner in the NFL at $294,169,486. Standing above him are some of the greats, especially Super Bowl champions like Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford and Tom Brady.

Behind this trio are the still active Russell Wilson and his fellow Falcon legend Matt Ryan.

In Cousins’ case, consecutive franchise transactions with Washington resulted in a price tag of $19,953,000 and $23,943,699 before the Vikings gave him his first extended contract outside of the rookie deal worth $84,000,000 gave US dollars.

In 2020, he would re-sign with them to a two-year contract extension worth $66,000,000 before adding a third year worth $35,000,000. He is currently under contract with the Falcons on a deal worth $180,000,000 completed in the 2024 offseason.

Cousins ​​vs. Michael Penix Jr.

Here at Pro Football Network, we created our own Quarterback+ (QB+) metric, weighting stats we care deeply about and then using them to evaluate a quarterback in the current season.

Our metric uses numbers that are fully available through 2019. This is where the historical context comes from. All data referenced is either for the current season or a comparison to statistics from 2000 for most or 2019 for pressure related data.

We compile statistics that include success rates under pressure, third-down conversion rate and pocket production. The additional wrinkle to this PFN Insight is the quantification of “coupling.”

Defining “clutch performance” is an imperfect science. In this case, we used recency-based statistics to take the score and situation into account.

Kirk Cousins’ QB+ grade through Week 15

The Falcons decided to exclude Cousins ​​at the start of Week 16 after he ranked 28th in the league over the previous four weeks. Cousins ​​struggled all season working under pressure and suffered from clutch issues, with an EPA/DB ratio of -0.44 under pressure. His nYPA of 7.3 ranks him ninth, but he’s also 11th in YAC/Cp at 5.6.

Cousins’ clean pocket numbers are solid (0.28 EPA/DB), but he is converting on just 34.1% of his third-down opportunities this season (29th) and has an EPA/DB of -0.44 , when he is put under pressure (27th).

Michael Penix’s QB+ grade in Week 16

Penix’s first start in the NFL was mixed in terms of metrics. In many ways, starting your career by being average is a positive, as we’ve seen many quarterbacks get off to poor starts.

Among rookies taking the field this year, Penix’s QB+ ranks third in first starts at 74.4, just behind Maye (74.6) and Daniels (75.3). However, in his first starts he was well ahead of Nix (63.8), Rattler (63.3) and Williams (59.5).

Of course, if we compare Penix to these other rookies, he had the advantage of playing the first 15 weeks and learning the offense. Nix, Williams and Daniels were pressed into action in Week 1, while Maye got off to a quicker start than the Patriots initially planned.

Penix also had some extended opportunities in training camp and preseason, with the Falcons taking it slow to bring Kirk Cousins ​​back. Therefore, Penix was probably in a relatively good position in his first start.

For the most part, this week’s metrics were pretty average for Penix:

• 7.5 nYPA
• 45.5% third party replacement
• 0.36 EPA/DB clean room
• -0.39 EPA/DB pressure
• 0.16 EPA/DB total

However, we should note that within these numbers, Penix is ​​credited with an interception on a pass to Kyle Pitts where the tight end essentially fumbled the ball into the hands of a defensive back. The turnover technically counts against Penix, but no blame should be attributed to him.

This game alone contributed to an EPA of -4.20. Penix finished the game with a 5.59 EPA on all of his plays. So without that play, he could have finished with an EPA over 10, which would have put him in the top 10 in the league this week.

Penix’s 45.5% third-down conversion rate was the fourth-best of any Falcons QB in a game this season (and the best since Week 8). Penix averaged 0.24 EPA per play on third downs and -0.08 EPA per play on first/second downs (first and second down numbers include -4.2 EPA on interceptions).

Penix faces a tougher test against Commanders in Week 17

PFN’s defensive rankings combine statistics such as yards per game, points per drive, sack percentage, turnover percentage, success rate against the run and pass, third-down conversion rate, red zone efficiency, pressure percentage when not blitzed, and various Expected Points Added (EPA) measures against the run and pass.

The commanders’ overall defense numbers are not very impressive, but they have shown that they are capable of holding their own against weaker units. With Jalen Hurts leaving the Week 16 game against the Eagles with a concussion in the first quarter, the Commanders took advantage of a matchup against Kenny Pickett.

Washington posted a 76.8 (C) grade against Philadelphia, finishing in the top 10 for just the fifth time all season. The Commanders’ other weekly top 10 finishes came against the Browns, Panthers, Bears and Titans , all of which ranked in the bottom 10 in Defense+ this season.

Despite Saquon Barkley rushing for over 100 yards in the first quarter, Washington actually posted its second-best rushing success rate (70%) of the season. Over the final three quarters, Barkley amassed just 41 yards on 22 carries, for a pitiful rushing success rate of 18.2%.

Dan Quinn’s unit hasn’t performed at the level that his Cowboys defense performed from 2021 to 2023, but that’s not the fairest comparison considering this was supposed to be the early stages of a rebuild. The Commanders have at least demonstrated the ability to overwhelm one-dimensional offenses, which is more than they have been able to claim in recent seasons.