But, Cousins was benched on Tuesday in favor of first-round rookie Michael Penix Jr. Now, that contract is looking like one of the worst deals in NFL history.

After playing well for much of the season, Kirk Cousins has been dreadful lately. In his last five games, four losses, Cousins has thrown just 1 touchdown and nine interceptions. He played the Falcons out of a big lead in the NFC West into 2nd place.

While the Falcons did win on Monday night against the Raiders, it was an ugly win on offense. Atlanta managed just one touchdown and 15 total points against a terrible Raiders team. And, they clearly didn't trust Kirk Cousins. He attempted just 17 passes in the game.

When the Falcons used the 8th-overall pick to select Michael Penix Jr. just a month after signing Kirk Cousins to a 4-year $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed, it made little sense. Why would you waste a top-ten pick on a quarterback when you're clearly trying to win right now by paying a quarterback big money. That pick could've been used to improve the offensive line or plug a hole on defense. Why spend that much money on Cousins if you're going to draft a 24-year old quarterback that high?

Now that Cousins has been benched, that contract looks like one of the worst contracts of all-time. Not only did they waste all that money on a guy who clearly isn't all the way back from his torn Achilles suffered last year, but they essentially wasted an entire year of hands-on development for Michael Penix Jr. Atlanta can get out of the Cousins contract essentially scot-free after 2025. But, this is still an all-time bad deal.

The Falcons, 7-7, need to find a way to make up a game on the 8-6 Buccaneers. They do hold the tiebreaker.