Let’s make a series of reasonable assumptions about the 2026 season. Michael Penix Jr. will be recovering from a partially torn ACL that could stretch into the summer, making it something less than a 100%
lock that he’ll be healthy in time for training camp or even (in a worst case scenario) the season. Kirk Cousins will likely be gone, which we’ll touch on in this piece. With that in mind, and with the simple and justifiable wariness that will come after Penix injured his ACL, the Falcons may have to invest in a quarterback they feel comfortable starting; they will almost certainly add to the room. While we don’t know who will be coaching this team, necessarily, and what expectations will be for the season, the team is not going to roll into 2026 with, say, a recovering Penix and Easton Stick.
I want to stress up front that we don’t know enough about Penix’s injury or recovery timeline to know what the Falcons will need, and if things are at all positive, the team is going to do everything they can to stave off a quarterback controversy and give Penix a chance to show he’s the franchise player the Falcons envisioned him to be when they used a top ten pick on him in 2024. But regardless of any of that, there’s zero chance the status quo is maintained at quarterback, and the Falcons must wisely hedge against any setbacks or 2026 injuries for Penix by giving themselves an option that won’t sink the season if they have to make starts. We’ll look at some of the players the Falcons could acquire and how they might acquire them in this article; we’ll likely repeat this exercise in the spring when we have news about Penix’s recovery and free agency and the draft are looming.
Let’s get this one out of the way right now.
Keep Kirk Cousins
This seems incredibly unlikely.
Cousins is going to have an absurd $57 million cap charge in 2026 if he’s on the roster, and the Falcons can save $35 million against dead money of $22.5 million by cutting him with a post-June 1 designation. For that money to be remotely worth it, Cousins would have to play lights-out football down the stretch, get the Falcons back to respectability, and re-earn the trust of the entire Falcons organization along the way. This is a player, after all, who complained about the team’s decision to draft Michael Penix Jr., may or may not have obscured an injury suffered last year that caused his play to crater, and then spent the offseason trying to get traded or released. All of those things were well within his rights, but it doesn’t mean the Falcons or this fanbase had to like them.
Cousins will be 37 years old after this season and has played poorly in his fill-in stints thus far in 2025. We’re talking about a remarkable turnaround to even make the Falcons consider this, potentially on a restructured contract, and I just don’t see that happening.
2026 free agents
- Daniel Jones, Colts
- Aaron Rodgers, Steelers
- Russell Wilson, Giants
- Marcus Mariota, Commanders
- Zach Wilson, Dolphins
- Joe Flacco, Bengals
- Jimmy Garoppolo, Rams
- Mitch Trubisky, Bills
- Trey Lance, Chargers
- Malik Willis, Packers
- Jake Browning, Bengals
- Tyrod Taylor, Jets
- Teddy Bridgewater, Buccaneers
- Carson Wentz, Vikings
- Kenny Pickett, Raiders
I’m not going to lie to you: This is a pretty grim list. The Colts are not going to let Jones leave, which leaves the Falcons with options ranging from ancient (Russell Wilson, Rodgers, Flacco) to uninspiring (Mariota, Garoppolo, really most of this list) to largely unproven (Lance, Willis, Zach Wilson). Perhaps the Falcons still like Lance enough to give him a shot or think Browning would be interesting with a change of scenery, or maybe they want to want to unite Penix with his idol Teddy Bridgewater. None of those would be sure things in, say, more than a small handful of starts.
If the team is confident Penix will be healthy by Week 1, or even late in the first month of the season, there are still realistic options on this list. Beggars cannot be choosers, after all, and some of the money they get back from cutting Cousins can pay for one of these players. I don’t have a great guess as to which one Atlanta will land on, but the team’s previous reported interest in Lance, Bridgewater’s game manager profile and connection to Penix, and Flacco’s general competence as a pocket passer make them possibilities.
Trade
- Kyler Murray, Cardinals
- Jacoby Brissett, Cardinals
- Spencer Rattler, Saints
- Mac Jones, 49ers
- Justin Fields, Jets
- Bryce Young, Panthers
- Geno Smith, Raiders
I did not put Tua on this list because of the preposterous amount of money he’d command, shaky season he’s having, and his own very real injury concerns stemming from multiple concussions. We can skip that possibility.
Murray is only slightly more feasible, given that he a significant cap charge of nearly $40 million in 2026. There’s also the not-so-small matter that Murray is impacted by pressure as much as any quarterback in football, with his footwork going haywire and performance cratering when defenders get close. Murray is a solid scrambling threat and a capable passer, and would slot in Atlanta with all its weapons as basically an average (if quite short) passer who can make plays with his legs, assuming the Falcons can protect him effectively. Given that he’ll cost you a decent pick and quite a bit of money for what’s unlikely to be anywhere near elite quarterback play, Murray is not a thrilling option. But if you look past the height and the injuries—he’s missed significant games two out of the last three seasons—there’s little question Murray would bring a higher floor to Atlanta than they’ve had the past few seasons with some upside he couldn’t realize in Arizona. The question concerns the price, and whether acquiring him would make it more difficult for the Falcons from upgrading the roster elsewhere.
If the Arizona coaching staff is unceremoniously dumped and Murray is sticking around, then Brissett becomes an option. A longtime Falcoholic favorite—okay, maybe it’s just me—Brissett is a plodding pocket passer with a big arm who can bulldoze defenders in the red zone as a runner and is smart enough to take what defenses give him. He just set an NFL record for completions in a game—no, really—and as elevated skill position players in Arizona like Michael Wilson and Trey McBride. I’ve long been a fan of his game and pined for him to become a Falcon multiple times in recent years when the Falcons needed a reliable quarterback; if you could pry him away from the Cardinals for a day three pick and assume his very reasonable 2026 contract, I’d be delighted with that as the team’s insurance for Penix next year.
Rattler may be the least likely option in some ways simply because I cannot imagine the Saints trading him in the division, but he’d make a lot of sense. Just 25 years old and on a dirt cheap rookie contract, Rattler has the arm and athleticism to be a solid fill-in quarterback and did a nice job protecting the football throughout much of his starting stint in New Orleans, before the wheels started coming off the wagon over his final two starts when he threw four of his five interceptions and had two of his four fumbles on the year. If the Saints would trade him, Rattler would be a young, affordable, semi-proven player the team could develop, one I’d be comfortable having fill in for a month or so if needed.
Jones is an older and more expensive proposition, but can be solid in the right system given his accuracy and work from the pocket. He’s probably more valuable to the 49ers than any other team, so I’d question how high his price might be, but Jones is under contract for 2026 and could deliver the ball to Atlanta’s cast of playmakers without breaking the bank if the 49ers aren’t asking too much.
The next three are all unlikely for different reasons. Young is another case of a team being unlikely to make a trade in the division, and the Panthers are probably getting themselves out of the range where they could feel good about trying to draft his successor. He’s short, inconsistent, and can panic his way into bad situations, but the Falcons have seen first hand what happens when Young gets into a good rhythm and can scan the field effectively. Fields has simply not taken a step forward as a passer but is lethal with his legs, which might be a fit for a different coaching staff but probably not this one. Geno Smith has been a sharp, dangerous passer who was good enough at tight window throws to take risks in the recent past, but his play slipped a little bit last year and has slipped a lot with the Raiders. A better supporting cast might help, but Smith would be a bit of a risky, more expensive acquisition unless the Raiders simply cut him.
2026 NFL Draft
Notably, the Falcons do not have a first round pick, which will preclude them from getting one of the top players in this class. That means no LaNorris Sellers, Ty Simpson, and Fernando Mendoza, at the very least.
That doesn’t mean the Falcons won’t dip into this class to get a quarterback; it just means they will be getting one they like as a developmental option if Penix falters, not a slam dunk starter if Penix can’t go. Who’s out there?
John Mateer might be a possibility, though I can’t totally rule out the possibility of him going in the first round; the team would likely have to be comfortable investing a day two pick otherwise. Mateer has been hurt and has struggled at times this year for Oklahoma, but can be a really precise passer with the ability to make plays on the move. I like his chances of turning into an NFL starter, but I have no real idea how high his ceiling is. As insurance policies for Penix go in this draft class, I think he makes the most sense.
Garrett Nussmeier has seen his stock drop precipitously this year, but has a live arm that’s going to cause some team to take a chance on him. I’d be nervous about tossing him in there given his sometimes comically bad feel for pressure and movement in the pocket, though, so I’m not sure he’s the best potential option if there’s uncertainty about Penix being ready to start the year. Ditto Drew Allar, who has an intriguing arm but real bozo ball tendencies; he’ll also be coming off a season-ending injury. There’s a raft of guys behind them, like Cade Klubnik out of Clemson and Miller Moss out of Louisville, who have shown promise for stretches in their careers but have turned in rough 2025 campaigns; these would be fliers.
There are intriguing talents in this class, to be clear: If Sellers drops, I’d be all over that, and taking a shot on South Florida’s Byrum Brown or Kansas’s Jalon Daniels could be very fun given their toolkits. But there are virtually no players outside of Mendoza, Sellers, Simpson, and maybe Mateer that I’d feel comfortable tossing in there Week 1 or (god forbid) for a full season in 2026 if Penix’s timeline ends up being worse than anticipated. That makes the draft a better option for long-term insurance if Penix’s prognosis is positive, rather than a hedge against him not playing right away or much at all next season.
There are no stellar options that will make us feel great about not having Penix, if it comes to that. There’s so much uncertainty around that at this point that this is merely a speculative exercise, and perhaps players will become available who currently aren’t expected to be, or we’ll get great news on Penix and won’t need a proven starter or high-upside prospect to protect the franchise. But without knowing where Penix will land, the Falcons have to start thinking about who is going to join the quarterback room in 2026 to stave off another potential disaster.
