ESPN’s choice for Falcons biggest mistake since 2020 is obvious

The Falcons have made their fair share of mistakes since inception, and one of the club’s biggest ones came within the past year if you ask Bill Barnwell of ESPN, who believes the Falcons biggest mistake since 2020 is signing Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract, ranking it 8th.

No need for a reminder about this one, given that the Falcons just benched Cousins on Tuesday. The veteran quarterback started his brief Atlanta career unable to move well enough to hand off the football as he returned from a torn Achilles suffered last October. Throughout the season, the Falcons basically kept him as still as possible, running the league’s lowest play-action and out-of-pocket pass rates. After a stretch with one touchdown pass and nine interceptions over the past five games, coach Raheem Morris decided to cut bait and replace the 36-year-old starter with rookie first-round pick Michael Penix Jr.

The logic of signing Cousins to a significant deal and then using a first-round pick on Penix always seemed flimsy, but it’s only getting worse. Unless the Falcons can find a trade partner for Cousins this offseason, they’ll likely cut him to avoid triggering a $10 million bonus for 2026, which guarantees in March 2025. For 14 starts from a player whose QBR ranks 22nd in the league, they will end up paying $85 million, minus any potential offset if he signs for the minimum somewhere else next offseason.

While it’s undoubtedly a terrible decision in hindsight, it still might not be the Falcons’ worst decision since 2020. I could argue that even just pursuing Deshaun Watson following the 2021 campaign or hiring Terry Fontenot were the worst mistakes.

It’s still appalling that the organization has continued to downplay its interest in Watson, who had two dozen sexual assault accusations against him at the time. Secondly, the Falcons had Matt Ryan at the tail end of his career and effectively ran him out of town for a player that had TWO DOZEN SEXUAL ASSAULT ACCUSATIONS against him.

Even if the Falcons didn’t give him the contract that the Browns did, which ranked atop Barnwell’s list of the worst mistakes in the NFL since 2020, they should still be held accountable for pursuing him and subsequently alienating the greatest player in franchise history.

And while Terry Fontenot shouldn’t be criticized in that same breath, he was a part of that decision-making party. But more than that, what exactly has Terry Fontenot done well since being hired as Atlanta’s GM? Please, tell me, because I don’t think he’s done a damn thing worth noting. Worst of all, the Saints got a pair of third-round picks for the Falcons hiring Fontenot.

Pursuing Watson, giving Cousins that contract, and every other damn thing the Falcons have done since 2021 should be partially attributed to Terry Fontenot.

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Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire

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