“I Thought He Would Keep the Job”: Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson Analyse Falcons Benching Kirk Cousins

In a shocking move, the Falcons have benched their $180 million quarterback. No one had thought Cousins’ stint at Atlanta would start falling apart so soon. However, his poor performances in the last five games, in which he threw nine interceptions and one TD pass seem to have accelerated the process.

While the performances have been exceedingly bad from Kirk, Shannon Sharpe relayed on the ‘Nightcap’ podcast, that he thought that the Falcons would at least let him be a starter at least for the entirety of this season.

“I thought that he would keep the job for the simple fact that they are still a game behind. But with the Giants coming in it’s just as good a time as any.”

While surprised by the news, Unc thought it was the best time for the Falcons. The Falcons won last week and are still in contention for the playoffs. But with the Giants coming to town, this seems like a good time to make a change.

Ocho loved the decision by Atlanta and HC Raheen Morris to bench Cousins for Penix. He believes that the offense has become stagnant for the last few games and changing the QB will give it the jolt that it needs.

The former WR asserted that the quarterback has not met the performance expectations set for him. Cousins’ turnovers have consistently jeopardized the team’s chances of success. Despite this though, Ocho believes that the Falcons will retain Cousins ​​for next season, albeit in a backup role.

However, this scenario raises questions, particularly as Cousins ​​is slated to earn $62 million this season and $38 million next season. If the Falcons plan to hand the job to Penix moving forward, what should they do with him?

Shannon speculates that the Falcons will trade Cousins

Shannon disagreed with Ocho about the Falcons benching Kirk for the next season. He thinks it’s unlikely the team will bench a player earning that kind of money. Instead, he predicted that the Falcons will trade Cousins next year and agree to absorb part of his salary since cutting him is also not an option.

“You can’t have no guy making $38 million on the bench. They gonna try to trade him. You might have to trade him and take some of that salary on but you can’t have him there.”

Shannon noted that several teams, including the Raiders, Giants, and Browns, need quarterbacks. While two of those teams may draft QBs, they might still bring in Cousins for a year or two to mentor their rookie and give them time to develop.

As for Cleveland, Shannon believes the team could move on from Deshaun Watson given his lack of production, despite the guaranteed money in his contract.

As for the Falcons’ decision to bench Cousins, it might be the right move. They have two favorable matchups left on their schedule and still control their playoff destiny. This makes it an ideal time to introduce Michael Penix Jr., who brings a dual-threat capability that Cousins never possessed.

Additionally, Cousins seems to have lost confidence, and sitting out could give him a chance to reset and improve his game if he wants to compete for his job next season.