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Fans and analysts aren’t the only members of the NFL community still wondering why the Atlanta Falcons made quarterback Michael Penix Jr. the eighth pick of this year’s draft after the club signed veteran Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180M contract that included $100M guaranteed in March.
“It’s been difficult to find front-office decision-makers around the league who understand what the Falcons’ actual plan was headed into this draft,” NFL insider Dianna Russini of The Athletic revealed on Tuesday. “Some even question their overall vision, considering most teams know by February if they are drafting a QB with their first pick. That was before free agency…and before the Falcons signed Kirk Cousins.”
The Falcons have widely been criticized for spending pick No. 8 to plan for their future instead of using that asset to improve their current starting offense or defense after they signed a quarterback to a massive contract earlier in the offseason. Additionally, Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot raised eyebrows when he said after the club picked Penix that he’d be OK if the signal-caller remains a backup for “four or five years.”
In a lengthy article published on Monday, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports shared that Falcons owner Arthur Blank “signed off” on the club taking Penix “after watching Fontenot and the previous coaching staff juggle a failed attempt to develop (2022) third-round pick Desmond Ridder into a franchise player” at the sport’s most important position. That’s all well and good, but such a mindset won’t make Cousins feel better about what occurred this past Thursday.
“The Falcons told me they don’t believe they will be picking in the top 10 in 2025 and 2026, so the thought was to get a superior quarterback now,” Russini continued. “The popular belief has been that drafting Michael Penix Jr. is a good idea. Signing Kirk Cousins in free agency is a good idea. The two together is a bad idea.”
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has repeatedly questioned if Cousins now regrets leaving the Minnesota Vikings to sign with the Falcons. After all, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated said on Monday that “the Vikings telling [Cousins] they’d probably draft [a quarterback] this year was a factor in his” free-agency decision.
If nothing else, Fontenot and Blank have given other front offices examples of what shouldn’t be done from the legal tampering portion of free agency through a draft.