The Falcons now hold a strong claim to the NFL’s most unwanted title — and it’s poised to hang over the franchise all offseason
It’s a title no one wants, but the Falcons have as strong a claim as anyone.
This is not the season the Atlanta Falcons were expecting to have. Sitting at 3-7 and riding a five-game losing streak, the Falcons have now lost their starting quarterback, Michael Penix Jr., for the rest of the season and are dealing with some rocky play from a defense that was among the league’s best to start the season. Over 1,000 yards from scrimmage have been allowed by Atlanta in consecutive overtime losses.
But as this season continues to slip away and the adversity piles up, the Falcons’ situation only appears to become more dire when you put their personnel and situation into context. Atlanta, for example, ranks near the middle of the pack or worse in essentially every major passing statistic. That comes despite Atlanta being more invested in their quarterback situation than, well, just about anyone.
The Atlanta Falcons’ spending at quarterback is the league’s worst return on investment under Terry Fontenot
The title of the league’s worst return on investment belongs to the Falcons’ quarterback room right now. You can swing big for a free agent quarterback and survive if you successfully hit on a draft pick at the position. We’ve seen teams draft quarterbacks high and miss often. Those who bail themselves out typically do so by striking gold on the right veteran quarterback fit for their roster to keep the bottom from dropping out.
I don’t remember the last time we’ve seen an executive swing and miss on both fronts at the same time with premium assets. Consider this.
The Atlanta Falcons have a top-eight draft selection and over $105 million dollars in cash invested into the quarterback room since the start of the 2024 NFL offseason. Kirk Cousins got his bag and Michael Penix Jr. was drafted with the intention of being the future of the position just a month later. Five teams have spent a top-eight pick on a quarterback the last two years. Seven teams have spent $100M or more in payroll to quarterbacks over that same period of time. The Falcons are, obviously, the only one on both lists, with nothing to show for it.
NFL cash spending leaders at quarterback position since 2024 (per Spotrac)
- Buffalo Bills: $124.87M
- Los Angeles Chargers: $122.495M
- Atlanta Falcons: $106.645M
- Cincinnati Bengals: $105.367M
- Miami Dolphins: $102.157M
- Detroit Lions: $101.043M
- Kansas City Chiefs: $100.254M
What, exactly, do the Falcons have to show for arguably the most invested in quarterback room of the last two years? An 11-16 record? A passing attack with a paltry 86.4 passer rating from their quarterbacks since the start of 2024 (ranked 24th in the NFL)? A touchdown to interception ratio from their quarterbacks that ranks 27th in the league, better than only Cleveland, Tennessee, Las Vegas, Jacksonville, and Indianapolis?
If the season ended today, the Falcons would be paying their quarterbacks over $3.5 million per touchdown pass since the start of 2024. Even the maligned Miami Dolphins’ quarterback situation with Tua Tagovailoa doesn’t dare reach that stratosphere — they’re currently averaging $2.6M per touchdown pass since the start of 2024. The worst part of all of this for Atlanta is they don’t really feel any closer to a solution at the position now, either.
You can’t control injuries. It’s an unfortunate part of the game that will visit every team’s doorstep every year. But Michael Penix Jr. did come with a “buyer beware” label due to multiple knee injuries in college. But as this season careens toward the cliff in Atlanta, the Penix Jr. injury stings given the Cousins contract will reach a critical mass in 2026. He can’t be back at this price point. And the Falcons will likely spend the entire offseason holding their breath that Penix Jr.’s rehab allows him to be ready to roll for the start of the season.
What we can say with confidence is this. Few, if any teams, have invested as much into their quarterback situation as the Atlanta Falcons have over the last two years. Despite that, the Falcons’ offseason will be marred by uncertainty on all fronts at the position this offseason. That’s not what owner Arthur Blank is paying for — will he act accordingly when this season comes to a close?
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