Winners and losers of Kirk Cousins signing with the Atlanta Falcons
- Kirk Cousins will now be playing for his third NFC team in his illustrious career.
- He is expected to close out his career with the Atlanta Falcons on a four-year deal.
- Here are the biggest winners and losers from the massive free agency signing.
By John Buhler
Winner: Atlanta Falcons
This is the type of move to make the Atlanta Falcons relevant. They showed us all last year that the defense is getting better. While special teams have long been an area of strength for this team, quarterback issues often plagued the Dirty Birds in the second half of the Arthur Smith era in Flowery Branch. Even if Cousins is not as good as he once was, he is still better than whatever Atlanta had.
By adding Cousins, the Falcons are now probably the favorites to win the NFC South. They went 7-10 a year ago, but that team would have been 11-6 with a better quarterback. You add a seasoned pro in Cousins to the equation, and it makes the entire operation better. While Carolina in the midst of a rebuild, New Orleans has to try and reinvent itself, while Tampa Bay tries to stay on top of the division.
I think what this move does is gives the Falcons more opportunities to score 30 points in a ball game. If the defense can hold up despite a regime change, you are looking a team that is very hard to beat. Although Cousins tends to shrink in big spots, Atlanta has a third-place schedule and did not play any primtime games a year ago. That all could change, but 1:00 p.m. ET kickoff is Cousins' time to shine.
Again, this could blow in Atlanta's face for various Falcons reasons, but they are a better team now.