Imagine trying to explain these quarterback moves to an Atlanta Falcons fan a few years ago.
OK, so first you’re going to sign one QB for a four-year contract worth $180 million. Sounds like the franchise quarterback, right?
Except less than two months later, you’ll draft a quarterback with the No. 8 overall pick. Is he the new face of the franchise instead? What about all that money that just got spent?
And a couple years later, you’ll sign a fallen-from-favor, former top-5 pick who was just released by his old team for a new money for dead money from an NFL contract. Is he taking over?
If you’re a Falcons fan, you might want to cry.
If you’re any other football fan, it’s hilarious.
Kirk Cousins was brought in for a huge deal. Michael Penix Jr. was drafted not long after.
And now, neither of them might be the starter in 2026 if new guy Tua Tagovailoa can impress the new leadership group in Atlanta.
Signing Kirk Cousins to draft Michael Penix Jr. to sign Tua Tagovailoa has to be one of the funniest NFL personnel sequences ever
— Brandon Warne (@Brandon_Warne) March 9, 2026
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The Cousins and Penix combination was always a bizarre one, but at least it made a tiny bit of sense on the premise that after a couple seasons, maybe it’d be time to hand over the reins.
But the way that didn’t really work out at all and has only led to signing Tagovailoa, who the Dolphins are paying tens of millions to get rid of, is quite goofy.
Atlanta will just have to hope it works out. Because otherwise the saga will get even funnier in a year when they continue down this oddball QB path to try and fix things.
