3 Eagles stars who will make Falcons regret Kirk Cousins contract twofold

No NFL team had a more interesting offseason than the Atlanta Falcons did. They signed Kirk Cousins to a massive four-year deal, replacing the lousy Desmond Ridder/Taylor Heninicke tandem with one big swing. They guaranteed $100 million only to then turn around and draft Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Doing one or the other would've been fine, but doing both in the same offseason was very strange. It could very well work out in Atlanta's favor, but the process was weird, and they were embarrassed in Week 1 with Atlanta scoring just 10 points in Cousins' debut, falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It only gets tougher from there, with the Falcons set to play on "Monday Night Football" against the Philadelphia Eagles, one of the best teams in the NFC, on the road. An 0-2 start feels inevitable, and could lead to Falcons fans showing even more frustration toward the team for their offseason decisions. If the Eagles do drop the Falcons to 0-2 and make Cousins look bad in the process, these three players might be to blame for that.

3) Zack Baun, LB

The Eagles made a major splash this offseason, signing Bryce Huff to a three-year deal, replacing Haason Reddick on their defensive line. In Philadelphia's Week 1 win over the Green Bay Packers it wasn't Huff who made much of an impact, though, it was fellow lineman Zack Baun who was not only the most impactful Eagle defensively, but he was one of the best defensive players in the NFL.

Whether Baun can repeat what he did in Week 1 is a major question considering his lack of a track record, but Baun's stat line cannot be ignored. Not only did he record a pair of sacks, but Baun also had 15 tackles and two quarterback hits.

Even if Baun doesn't have another game quite as electric as his output in Brazil, he could absolutely play a major role defensively and cause all sorts of problems, much like TJ Watt did against him in Week 1.

2) Darius Slay, CB

The Eagles didn't have much to be proud of defensively in their Week 1 win other than the play of Baun, but Darius Slay proved that he's still a very good cornerback in this league.

He might be 33 years old, but he forced a fumble and was only targeted twice all game. The Packers have a plethora of quality receivers, and Jayden Reed in particular had a great game against Philadelphia, but whenever Slay was involved, Jordan Love looked the other way.

It's possible we see Cousins do the same thing, which could limit what a guy like Drake London does in this game. If Cousins does target Slay, perhaps we'll see Big Play Slay make some impactful defensive plays as he has throughout his 12-year career.

Just two years ago in a Week 2 game against Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings, Slay picked Cousins off twice. Seeing a repeat of that would not sit well at all with the Falcons, and after Slay looked great in Week 1, it wouldn't be shocking to see him have that kind of impact.

1) Jalen Hurts, QB

The Falcons gave Cousins a four-year deal worth up to $180 million with $100 million guaranteed to be their quarterback. Guaranteeing him over $30 million annually presumably meant that the Falcons expect Cousins to lead them at the very least on a couple of deep playoff runs, if not to a Super Bowl.

In order for Cousins to meet the lofty expectations that come with a contract that large, he has to beat quarterbacks like Jalen Hurts in games like these. The conditions might not favor Cousins considering the fact that it's on the road and is on prime time, but he simply has to come through.

Chances are, when taking his history into account, Cousins will be outperformed by a proven elite quarterback in Jalen Hurts. No, Hurts didn't have a great year in 2023 and wasn't good in Week 1 of this season, but he did lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl in 2022 and nearly won it. He's easily a top-10 quarterback in the NFL if not higher.

Hurts will prove that there are levels to this. Cousins is really good, but is he good enough to lead a team to a Super Bowl? We've seen Hurts do it, but Cousins has not even played in an NFC Championship Game. Hurts has historically won games like these while Cousins has not. Hurts finding a way to beat Cousins will make the Falcons regret giving the money to the 36-year-old when he likely is not good enough to lead them to a Super Bowl.