It wasn’t Kirk Cousins or Michael Penix Jr. who caused the Falcons’ quarterback room to go from orderly to chaotic in just six months. But it started with a memory of Matthew Stafford. You see, Raheem Morris wasn’t the only person hired to be the Falcons’ head coach. Several assistants followed him from Los Angeles, bringing with them a blueprint of what a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback looks like. They’d seen Stafford up close, watched how his arm worked, how he extended plays, how his throws changed coverages. And something snapped during the draft process when they figured out Penix Jr. The arm angles, confidence, and speed. Everything looked familiar.

Falcons veteran Harry Douglas put it plainly on This Is Football with Kevin Clark: “A light bulb goes off in their head like, ‘Oh, this guy kind of reminds us and throws the football like a guy by the name of Matthew Stafford.'” That’s the lens Atlanta used. But here’s where the timeline gets messy. The Falcons signed Cousins in March 2024, handing him $100 million guaranteed. The move made sense on paper – Atlanta needed stability, leadership, and someone who already knew the system.

“So, what they thought they were signing Kirk Cousins, right, in free agency because you needed that quarterback for the immediacy,” Douglas said. “And also Kirk in the offensive system, he’s been in it for a very, very long time. So he could come in and not try to learn the offense, but teach the offense to other guys as well, right? On another level.” Cousins was the smart play for the present. But then, just weeks later, they shocked the league by drafting Penix Jr. at No. 8. A high-risk, high-upside move that sent eyebrows soaring across the NFL – and sent Cousins into an awkward silence.

Turns out, he found out about the Penix pick while the team was on the clock – literally. Zac Robinson, Atlanta’s offensive coordinator, made the call to Cousins as the pick was going in. And while the Falcons brass said they were always open about drafting a quarterback, no one expected a top-10 pick. Cousins didn’t go public about the situation until the release of Season 2 of Quarterback on Netflix. In it, he walks viewers through the exact moment his role shifted, without even taking a snap. What followed only made things worse.

Kirk Cousins started strong, leading the Falcons to a 6-3 record, before getting crushed by a hit from Saints pass rusher Payton Turner. He felt something off in his shoulder but stayed in, playing through pain, and then watched his season unravel. In a brutal five-game stretch, he threw one touchdown against nine interceptions. The offense crumbled. The playoff push stalled. And by Week 16, the team made the inevitable call. From the outside, it’s the perfect quarterback controversy. But Raheem Morris isn’t buying the drama.

Raheem Morris ends the QB drama

“It’s been less dramatic of a situation as it has been from an outside-of-the-building standpoint,” the Falcons head coach said before mandatory minicamp. And he’s not just playing defense. Morris went on to say Cousins has been a “high-quality individual” and praised how the veteran has handled the transition, even as his name floats around in trade talks and back-page speculation. “Kirk is not in the business of disrupting Michael Penix,” Morris added. That may be hard to believe for fans, but so far, Cousins’ actions support it.

After skipping voluntary OTAs, Cousins returned for minicamp, running drills, answering questions, and giving praise to the very quarterback who took his job. “He’s got all the tangibles and intangibles you need to be successful,” Cousins said about Penix. “I’m just here to support him as he needs it. But I also don’t need to be in his ear so much that I’m sort of another weight, another voice.”

So, unless a trade materializes, which gets harder by the day, he’s likely stuck in QB2 purgatory for the season. As GM Terry Fontenot put it, Cousins is more valuable in Atlanta as a high-end backup than he is playing elsewhere at a discount. So for now, he stays. He shows up, leads when asked, and supports when he can. As Morris said, “These things resolve themselves.” And in Atlanta, they already did.