The Atlanta Falcons made a bold decision when they decided to bench their $180 million quarterback, Kirk Cousins, in favor of second-year signal-caller Michael Penix Jr. last season.
Cousins, a former fourth-round pick whose performance has exceeded his draft position, will turn 37 years old during the 2025 season. He expected to finish out the final years of his career with the Falcons and, hopefully, secure the Super Bowl win that has eluded them both.
After a rocky 7-7 start to the 2024 season, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris announced that Cousins would sit for the final three weeks of the season in favor of the rookie Penix. Now, Morris and the franchise are putting all their eggs into the Penix basket.
Falcons Bet Big on Michael Penix Jr. and Its High-Powered Offense in 2025
Many were surprised that the franchise would choose to use its eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on a quarterback, so soon after giving Cousins a massive new contract. However, it appears to be an indication that the Falcons are no longer messing around. They want to win, and they want to win now.
In 2024, Penix played in five games, starting three of them. It is too soon to declare that Penix will be able to outperform Cousins definitively, but PFSN’s Offense+ metric expects the Falcons’ offense to take a step forward in 2025. PFSN’s Kyle Soppe notes that running back Bijan Robinson and wideout Drake London are legitimate threats, and if Penix develops as expected, the team could end up ranked even higher than the 10th place they were initially given.
The Athletic’s Josh Kendall recently wrote about what he saw during the Falcons’ OTAS and mandatory minicamps. Kendall noted that the trust the franchise is placing in Penix shows.
“The Falcons aren’t even considering the possibility that Michael Penix Jr. might not be great,” Kendall wrote. “The second-year quarterback started three games last year and was 27th in the league in passer rating (78.6) and 29th in completion percentage (58 percent) in that time, but Atlanta spent the offseason showcasing confidence that last year’s No. 8 pick is going to be very good. And they’ve done so with their actions, too, trading a 2026 first-round pick to get an extra first-rounder this year.”
Michael Penix Jr connects with his acrobatic WR1 Drake London… we’re gonna be seeing a lot of this
pic.twitter.com/OI3pagnDYP— John Frascella (Football) (@NFLFrascella) June 9, 2025
As Kendall indicated, the Falcons have provided Penix with many of the weapons he would need on offense, but the organization knew it must improve their defense. After an outstanding 2023 season defensively, the team spent the subsequent two drafts adding young playmakers to their defense. Now they need all of that to come together.
Atlanta made a pricey move during the 2025 NFL Draft by trading up with the Los Angeles Rams to get a second first-round pick. They used that selection to snatch one of the best pass rushers in the draft, James Pearce Jr. This came after choosing the outstanding linebacker Jalon Walker 15th overall.
The Falcons are poised to have one of the most exciting seasons of the past decade if Penix can lead this young but talented offense.