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The Atlanta Falcons shocked the NFL world on Thursday night, selecting Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 overall pick despite previously signing veteran Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract this offseason.
Cousins was surprised by the pick, but Penix told reporters on Friday that the veteran quarterback touched base with his rookie counterpart.
Mike Garafolo @MikeGarafolo
From Kirk Cousins’ agent Mike McCartney on the #Falcons’ selecting QB Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall. pic.twitter.com/XpIpOQn1ua
Dianna Russini @DMRussini
The Falcons called Kirk Cousins when they were on the clock to let him know.
From what I learned, Cousins understood a QB would be considered but he did not believe his successor would be taken in the first round. I’m told he’s a bit stunned.
“He did reach out. We had a very good conversation. He reached out last night,” Penix said. “I’m going to keep it just between me and him right now, but it was definitely a good conversation, and I’m super excited to work with him, and he said he was the same with me.”
General manager Terry Fontenot told reporters the selection was about having both short- and long-term solutions at quarterback.
“Cousins is our quarterback,” he said. “We’re very excited about Kirk. We’re very excited about this team. Penix is… we’re talking about the future. You look at the future. You look at the big picture. We are very excited about that quarterback room, and again, Kirk is our quarterback. But adding Penix is thinking about the future.”
Head coach Raheem Morris added that the belief was that adding Cousins would lead to immediate success for the Falcons, which would make drafting a talent on Penix’s level far more difficult—if not impossible—going forward.
“We were lucky enough to watch Matt Ryan play 14 years… with the Atlanta Falcons,” he added. “At some point, you’ve got to find a way to have that succession plan in place. It just so happened it presented itself tonight.”
Those explanations make sense to a degree, but the natural counterpoint is that surrounding the 35-year-old Cousins with as much talent as possible—which a different player at No. 8 would have done—made far more sense after committing so much money to the quarterback position.
And if the Falcons always knew they loved Penix, why not adding a stopgap option for a year or two before letting Penix take the reins?
Art Stapleton @art_stapleton
Line of the year from @TomPelissero on @gmfb when talking about Atlanta drafting Michael Penix while just signing Kirk Cousins: “This isn’t a relationship that’s gone south. This is cheating on your wife on the honeymoon.”
Ed Werder @WerderEdESPN
I seem to recall Kirk Cousins explaining his decision to leave the Vikings for the Falcons based on the sense only one team was truly committed to him.
He surely felt betrayed by the Falcons decision to draft Michael Penix at 8.
Pete Prisco @PriscoCBS
Kirk Cousins can be upset all he wants, but he got paid and just go show you are better. End of story. Falcons shouldn’t have signed him if they loved Penix. That’s the issue. Cousins can roll around in his money while complaining.
Sam Monson @PFF_Sam
And for the record I think I fall somewhere along the lines of:
I love the move. I think it’s ballsy and different, and demonstrates long-term vision…𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐭.
The Cousins signing and Penix selection exist on two very separate team-building timelines. It makes no sense to sit a first-round pick for potentially up to four seasons (especially one who is already 23 years old). Likewise, it makes no sense to pay a veteran quarterback $180 million if you don’t expect him to be your starter for the duration of the contract.
It all just raises so many questions.
Were there different power-brokers in the organization with different visions for how to approach the position this offseason, and somehow everybody managed to get their guy? Did the Falcons originally believe Penix might not drop to No. 8, so they signed Cousins, but once he did they loved him too much to pass him by? Are the Falcons worried that Cousins may struggle with injuries going forward or precipitously decline, so they hedged their bets with Penix? But if so, why sign Cousins to that contract in the first place?
Time will provide a number of answers. In the meantime, the rest of the NFL world is left perplexed, and the Falcons will have to devise a plan for managing a pair of quarterbacks who each will rightfully believe they need playing time.
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