20. Atlanta Falcons
It’s still hard to believe the Atlanta Falcons gave Kirk Cousins a $180 million contract this offseason and then used the 8th overall pick on Washington star Michael Penix Jr. But in hindsight, general manager Terry Fontenot over-correcting at the QB position after doing almost nothing for the first three years of his tenure with the team looks like a genius move.
The Falcons pivoted to Penix late in the year with the season on the line and he nearly helped them win the NFC South, but it was too little, too late.
You can’t help but be at least a little excited about the future for Atlanta with an offseason where Penix is the unquestioned starter and leader of the team. Someone is going to come in and trade for Kirk Cousins and this Atlanta team can move on with what I would expect to be an offseason that is extremely heavy in terms of investing in the defense.
Atlanta could be a very fun team in 2025 after going full-send on the Michael Penix Jr. era.
19. Dallas Cowboys
I struggle a little bit with where to place the Dallas Cowboys. If this team is fully healthy, they are good enough to win at least 11 games a year. Dak Prescott was hurt this past year, and when Dak was healthy, Micah Parsons was hurt.
The Cowboys have a tremendous roster core but do they have the right supporting cast? That’s going to be the major question for Jerry Jones and company to answer this offseason as they seemingly contemplate whether or not to bring Mike McCarthy back into the fold.
And as of right now, the Cowboys don’t appear to be in any hurry to make rash coaching decisions. It’s not like they are out there publicly making it known that they are interviewing other candidates. In fact, they’ve blocked McCarthy from interviewing for other gigs.
It’s hard to imagine they feel like he’s the best long-term option for this team but do you want to take on a bunch of change at this critical point in Dak Prescott’s career?