The #Falcons and star WR Drake London have agreed to terms on a massive new contract extension, as he gets a four-year deal, sources say.
Atlanta’s former first-rounder has been a priority and now paid in a deal done by Andrew Kessler of @AthletesFirst.
Here’s the best I can quickly summarize the Cousins/Falcons situation based on my understanding of things:
Teams are not allowed to demand a player be subjected to a medical evaluation/physical against his will. You’d think they should, but ultimately it’s on the player to report ailments and request treatments.
So then that’s where one would argue it’s on the coaching staff to recognize the performance drop off and bench him for that reason. The performance decline was obvious, but ironically it was the same dynamic that prevented Kirk from being forthcoming that made the staff want to give KC every opportunity to keep the job. IMO they felt they owed it to him and themselves for a number of reasons — the % of cap space he’s taking up, the “plan,” how they understood they created the dynamic by selecting Penix in the first place, and also respect for KC’s career history and belief that he would indeed turn it around. After selecting Penix, the Falcons made every effort otherwise to affirm Cousins as the true QB1. Obviously Kirk never felt real security or he probably would’ve been more honest about his injury.
Ultimately the dynamic of having selected Penix — surprisingly to Cousins — created a situation where, ironically, both parties wanted Cousins to maintain as the starter during this period. The staff waited until the last possible moment to make the switch — when the season’s goal of making the playoffs was on the line. And they were actually excruciatingly close from having done so. If only they didn’t have a kicking crisis happening at the same time, they probably get a wild card spot.