If not Kirk Cousins, who is Michael Penix Jr.’s backup in 2025? 

What is your take on Matt Ryan being asked to mentor/teach/coach Penix, instead of another well-seasoned QB that is already on payroll who knows the offense? Is there more here than meets the eye? Has the team already ‘cut ties’ with Cousins?

I don’t think Morris’ comments at owners meetings about this are a knock on Cousins nor is this something that I think is absolutely happening in the first place. Personally, I think a lot of people took Morris’ quote a few weeks ago as being a for-sure thing, when I actually think he meant it more as a generalization.

“You talk about, ‘What is your offseason plan?’ and ‘How do you go about that process?'” Morris said of Penix’s offseason development as QB1. “Try to hook him up with people to talk to about what they’ve done in their past, whether that be Matt Ryan, whether that be his coaches, whatever the case may be before he left.”

Ryan lives in Atlanta. He’s still connected with the organization, as well as with Morris, too. It’s not at all surprising that Morris would name drop Ryan as someone who could be a mentor to Penix. But what does that actually look like? Have the two spoken? Was it a phone call or two? Or have they been out on the grass together? I think these are the questions we don’t have answers to. All we have is a single comment from Morris about trying to connect Penix with Ryan. That’s it.

Now, who’s to say Penix doesn’t report to voluntary OTAs and say in an availability at mandatory minicamp that he and Ryan have dinner together every Tuesday? Sure, that could happen. But to the point of us truly knowing how much Ryan is mentoring/teaching/coaching Penix (to use your words), no one knows if any of that is actually happening.

Then, there’s the second part of your question regarding Cousins and the team “cutting ties.” Look, I think we all can see the writing on the wall. I wrote about said writing at the Annual League Meetings last week after talking to Morris and owner Arthur Blank about Cousins. Both said Cousins’ intentions are clear: He wants to be a starting quarterback in this league. As long as Penix is healthy and playing clean ball, that won’t be in Atlanta. He’s open to a trade. The Falcons are, too, with Morris saying the organization wouldn’t stand in the way of something if a viable option presented itself. And then, there’s Morris saying he doesn’t believe Cousins will report for voluntary OTAs at the…