Bill Belichick Compares Michael Penix Jr., Kirk Cousins to Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love

A stunning moment took place in the NFL draft Thursday when the Atlanta Falcons, who just signed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract, selected Washington signal-caller Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick.

Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick weighed in on the move during the Pat McAfee's 5th Annual Draft Spectacular, comparing it to when the Green Bay Packers selected Jordan Love with the No. 26 pick in 2020 despite having Aaron Rodgers on the roster.

"There's a lot to like about Penix," Belichick began.

"There's a lot to like about this kid. He's very mature. You talk about the injuries, but he's healthy the last two years. And he's won a lot of games on a good football team at Washington, so you know, it's an interesting pick. Look, having two good quarterbacks isn't a bad thing..."

ESPN analyst (and ex-NFL quarterback) Robert Griffin III then asked Belichick if he'd ever seen a situation where a team paid a quarterback but then selected another signal-caller in the top 10 of the draft.

While qualifying that it wasn't a top-10 pick, Belichick then referenced the Packers taking Love with Rodgers still aboard.

"Hey, that's why there's 32 different teams. They all have their own boards, they all have their own philosophies, they all have their own logos..."

In the Packers' case, Rodgers stayed aboard for three more seasons, winning two NFL MVPs along the way. Green Bay then traded Rodgers to the New York Jets last season, giving Love the QB1 reins. Love just led the Packers to the NFC Divisional Round in their first year, so that transition worked out well.

This is a little odder, though, because Penix will be 28 when Cousins' contract expires, and the Falcons seemed all aboard on him being QB1 as they embarked on a new era. As great as Penix is, he (or really any other rookie QB) is a strange fit in Atlanta when the team was clearly going in one direction this offseason only to do a 180-degree turn.

We'll see how it all works out soon enough, but for now, it stands as the draft's most eye-popping move.