Why Raheem Morris isn't worried about Kirk Cousins 'disrupting' Michael Penix Jr.

Veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins was not present for practice during the voluntary portion of the Atlanta Falcons' offseason program but reported for the team's mandatory minicamp on Tuesday. 

Later in the day, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris insisted that Cousins' presence at the team facility won't be a negative for Michael Penix Jr. now that the 2024 first-round draft pick is the club's full-time starter. 

"Kirk is not in the business of disrupting Michael Penix," Morris said, as shared by Jayna Bardahl and Josh Kendall of The Athletic. "He has a great appreciation for the player Michael Penix is. He has a great appreciation for the person Michael Penix is."

As ESPN's Marc Raimondi and others have pointed out, the Falcons would owe Cousins $27.5M in salary for 2025 if he's on the active roster or is released. While Atlanta has been interested in trading Cousins to a team willing to pick up a significant portion of his salary, there's no indication any club is eager to do the Falcons a favor in the closing days of spring. 

Most recently, the Pittsburgh Steelers seemingly removed themselves from Cousins-related conversations when they signed Aaron Rodgers to a one-year contract. 

"He’s a high-quality individual, a great human," Morris said about Cousins. "I always think these things resolve themselves." 

Cousins served as a mentor for Penix last season both before and after the 25-year-old took over as the team's starter in Week 16. Some analysts and reporters suggested earlier this spring that the Falcons should either release Cousins or pay him to stay away from the team to avoid awkwardness that could arise if Penix doesn't look the part during practices and throwing sessions. 

"It's been less dramatic of a situation as it has been from an outside-of-the-building standpoint," Morris added, per Raimondi.

If nothing else, Morris' comments on Tuesday reminded other teams that Cousins likely won't be cut at any point before clubs open training camps in July. Unless a different franchise loses a starter to an injury, Cousins will have to either enter August as Penix's primary backup or choose to accept fines related to missing training camp practices.