It’s been exactly one year and five days since Kirk Cousins ​​underwent surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon, an operation that abruptly halted one of his best starts since joining the league. fight in 2012. There’s never a good time to injure yourself. Things don’t work out that way. But for Cousins, there may be no worse time for him to have surgery than November 1, 2023. He is facing his 36th birthday, which will come during the season’s training camp next season begins, and his contract with the Minnesota Vikings will officially end when the new league year begins in March 2024, just five months after that season-ending surgery.

However, Cousins ​​has what they don’t: An intellect honed over more than a decade of experience in this league. He still has good arm strength, a healed Achilles, and the aforementioned accuracy. More than enough for the Falcons to look for him this offseason. Since trading Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts, they have had to constantly rotate their quarterback position rotating between Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke for two seasons. Some call it quarterback purgatory, but the simple truth is that the Falcons have had consistency issues at the quarterback position. If they want to be taken seriously, they need to fix that. Cousins ​​appeared, and so did the four-year, $180 million contract the Falcons gave him when the new league year began this March. Cousins ​​is their answer. And despite the speculation, questions and general musings about Cousins’ recovery, overall health and ability to unlock the Falcons’ first-round picks over the past few years, he is the answer. Falcons fans’ quarterback worries.