NFL Week 2: These 3 quarterbacks are under a load of pressure to perform well

Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons

Kirk Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons in free agency. It was not the worst deal ever, as the Falcons have needed some stable QB play for years now. Cousins has also been efficient for the better part of the last 10 years, so he's proven. Yes, his ceiling is low, so the Falcons aren't going to make a deep playoff run with him under center.

But the shocking thing here was the team selecting Michael Penix Jr with pick eight in the 2024 NFL Draft, so it's obvious that the Falcons want to hand the keys over to Penix at some point. Well, after Kirk Cousins' Week 1 performance, there were people already calling for the team to insert Penix in. Cousins' 2023 Achilles injury seems to still be impacting him a bit physically.

This limitation, if it's indeed still present, could greatly hurt his performance this year. I'm not sure if Atlanta would even consider benching Cousins in year one of this massive deal, but they're surely expecting Cousins to play like he has before, and that's why they gave him so much money. A loss to the Philadelphia Eagles would put Atlanta at 0-2 on the season, and you have to figure that the calls for Penix would grow louder.

Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns

The Deshaun Watson trade and contract is on pace to go down as the worst in the history of sports, period. Watson has been absolutely terrible in his time with the Browns thus far, and Week 1 kept that idea going. At some point, this win-now Browns roster may get fed up with how bad Watson has been, and I am sure that head coach Kevin Stefanski, who won games with Joe Flacco, has to see the issue here.

If he's not winning consistently with Deshaun Watson, who was once a top-10 QB in this league, it's not on the head coach. Watson himself is probably washed up at this point, and while that's not really something we saw coming, it may be the cold, hard truth.

The Browns did sign a high-end backup this offseason in Jameis Winston, and I am sure Stefanski is already thinking of what kind of offense he can call to get the best out of Winston. If Watson is continuing to play like he's a rookie, the Browns will yank him from the lineup and give Winston a chance.

And it doesn't appear as if his off-field concerns are going away anytime soon. It's hard to truly say what will happen with Watson as it pertains to his time in the NFL, but in terms of on-field play, he's not playing close to what they traded for and could be racing his way to a spot on the bench.