The Athletic Places Atlanta Falcons QB Room Near Bottom of NFL

Despite spending the fifth-most money on the position, the Atlanta Falcons did not fare well on Mike Sando’s annual quarterback ranking on The Athletic. 

Kirk Cousins (Tier 3, No. 25 overall) and Michael Penix (Tier 4, No. 28 overall) both find themselves further down on the list than they would probably like to be, according to a poll taken by Sando of 50 NFL coaches and executives.

Sando describes Tier 3 as: A legitimate starter but needs a heavier running game and/or defensive component to win. A lower-volume dropback passing offense suits him best.

And Tier 4 as: A Tier 4 quarterback could be an unproven player (not enough information for voters to classify) or a veteran who ideally would not start all 17 games.

Sando’s annual 50-person panel comprised six general managers, six assistant general managers, six former general managers, five other executives, eight head coaches, 15 coordinators, and four other assistant coaches. 

Cousins’s 12-place fall was the biggest dropoff from any player on this list. He received 26 ‘Tier 3’ votes and 24 ‘Tier 4’ votes. He comes in as the final player in Tier 3, just ahead of the Giants’ Russell Wilson. 

The precipitous drop for the 36-year-old stems from a lack of confidence in his physical state. 

"He is probably in that 4 category right now, because where is he at physically?" an offensive coach said. "Is he starting to deteriorate so much? He should be a 2 if healthy. I just do not know if that is where he is at right now."

The voters were concerned with his overall lack of mobility after coming off the Achilles injury in 2023 and subsequent benching last season, and cite a lack of arm strength. 

Rankings like this should always be taken with a grain of salt, but it does give some insight into what any potential market could look like for the veteran quarterback. The Falcons said this offseason that they were “very comfortable” with him being a backup quarterback this season, but he also has a $27.5 million guaranteed base salary. 

After signing the free agent deal last offseason, he flashed some of the stability the Falcons were hoping for. The team started 6-3, and Cousins threw for 2,328 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions before falling off in the back half of the season. 

In total, though, he played just 14 games before losing his job to Penix. 

Cousins has since been at the center of trade speculation throughout the offseason, with things coming to a head after his phone call with owner Arthur Blank. They were again clear that they would “do what’s best for the Atlanta Falcons.” 

Whether that means they will actively shop him or not remains to be seen, but this list could serve as a national barometer of national interest. While he comes in low on this ranking, he is significantly higher than any other backup-level player, or what Sando would consider a ‘Tier 5’ quarterback. 

This indicates there would not be much interest in acquiring Cousins, barring an injury to a cemented starter on a contending team (i.e, the Falcons taking advantage of a desperate situation). What that could look like remains to be seen – if it will be at all. 

That said, $27.5-million is not an astronomical amount for a starting quarterback. 19 quarterbacks, including Cousins, have an average salary of $33.3 million or more. That number doesn’t include starters on rookie deals like Penix, Bo Nix, Jayden Daniels, Cam Ward, and J.J. McCarthy, among others.  

Therefore, Cousins's $27.5 million guaranteed salary in 2025 isn't an overly prohibitive number for a team looking for a starter. To this point, no team has deemed Cousins the guy worth acquiring, with veterans like Sam Darnold, Russell Wilson, and Geno Smith getting deals first.

Penix, meanwhile, received 11 ‘Tier 3’ votes and 39 ‘Tier 4’ votes in the anonymous poll. 

The Falcons’ starter is fifth of the seven former rookies in the ranking, only leading J.J. McCarthy (who didn’t play in a single game) and Spencer Rattler (played in six games, and the Saints went 0-6 while averaging 10.8 points per game). The Falcons’ signal-caller shared the fourth tier with both of those players. 

Placing him in Tier 4 because of a small sample size is fair. Jayden Daniels came in at No. 6 to lead Tier 2, a record for a second-year quarterback in The Athletic’s poll. Could Penix make a similar jump after his first full season as a starter?

Through three games, Penix went 1-2 but threw for 737 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions. More importantly, he flashed the arm strength and fantastic potential that the front office saw during the draft process. 

"His poise, his arm strength made a difference," another exec said. "He can make a lot more throws than Kirk (Cousins) could make (last season). His decision-making was really good. His accuracy was spotty at times, but outside of that, he finished strong. He gives you hope."

The Falcons, who have been stuck in quarterback purgatory for the last five seasons, will hope that Penix is the player to pull them up. 

Since moving on from Matt Ryan (who started 222 games for the team between 2008 and 2021), it has been a revolving door at the position. Marcus Mariota started 13 games in 2022, and Desmond Ridder started 17 games between 2022-23, with Taylor Heinicke mixing in for four of those games.

Those three combined to go 14-20, and the organization doubled down on the position by securing both quarterbacks in 2024. 

One would expect that neither would come away pleased with where they stand in this poll. Cousins will need the chance to start in order to improve his ranking, and the Falcons are counting on a leap from Penix as he takes the reins full time.