RandBall: The pressure on Kirk Cousins in Atlanta is only intensifying

The Vikings have a looming quarterback conundrum, one that for a change could be labeled a good problem to have.

The crux of it: Sam Darnold, signed as a one-year bridge to J.J. McCarthy, has played so well that fans are chanting “M-V-P” without a hint of irony and even those with a deep knowledge of the salary cap are wondering if Minnesota needs to rethink its Darnold plan.

The prudent thing is clear: Ride the incredible value Darnold has given the Vikings for one year and $10 million before handing the keys to McCarthy (and perhaps Darnold clone Daniel Jones) in 2025.

But if this 11-2 season leads to the franchise’s first Super Bowl title, could the Vikings really build Darnold a statue without giving him a contract?

The answer will become clearer by the end of the season, and the Vikings may have already made up their minds. It became at least more of a question Sunday when Darnold threw five touchdown passes and raucously waved a towel at the end of a 42-21 rout of Kirk Cousins’ Falcons, as Patrick Reusse and I talked about on Monday’s Daily Delivery podcast.

And that brings us to the Falcons’ QB conundrum, which is both more urgent than the Vikings’ question and can in no way be considered a good problem to have.

In what has become a weekly tradition of late, Falcons coach Raheem Morris was asked about Cousins’ job status. The social media quote I saw was Morris saying after Sunday’s loss, “Kirk Cousins our quarterback.”

The longer answer that contained that shorter quote, via outlets covering the Falcons, was more nuanced:

“Everything is always discussed, but Kirk Cousins is our quarterback,” Morris said. “Kirk played significantly better than he did the week before. We will do whatever is best to win football games, and Kirk’s got a big part of that. We didn’t handle the moment well as a team. We didn’t play well enough for him. Kirk came out and did a nice job of trying to get us a win, and we did not support him today.”

The big-picture answer might be simpler if not for two things: Cousins’ contract has a lot of guaranteed money and is essentially structured as at least a two-year deal; and of course the Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr. two spots ahead of McCarthy barely a month after signing Cousins to that large, expensive deal.

Benching Cousins now would open up the possibility that the Falcons would cut him after this season, essentially paying $90 million for one mediocre season while suffering heavy cap ramifications in 2025. It would negate some of the low-cost QB benefit of drafting Penix, even if he turned out to be good.

But Cousins’ play — an 0-4 record in his last four games and eight interceptions and zero TD passes during that span — is unsightly, even if he was only one of several problems for Atlanta on Sunday. Per The Falcoholic, an Atlanta fan site:

“Penix’s name needs to be thrown around like it’s a threat, not a 2025 graduation present. Raheem Morris has taken the soft approach with the rumblings surrounding the quarterback room, but it’s not yielding results. Morris needs to put Cousins on notice publicly and be frank about the quarterback’s play, which is directly related to this team’s last win coming 35 days ago. Even if the team continues to roll with Cousins under center, trying to sell the team and fanbase that he’s been good enough to win with under center is disingenuous.”

Falcons fans are bummed. Vikings fans should all agree about this: It’s sure nice that any Cousins dilemma is someone else’s problem now.