Michael Penix Jr. Rumors: Raiders, Saints, Seahawks Eyed Trade Before Falcons' Pick
April 26, 2024
The Atlanta Falcons ruined several teams' plans by selecting Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.
The Seattle Seahawks, New Orleans Saints and Las Vegas Raiders all wanted to trade up into the top 10 in order to draft Penix, according to NFL Media's James Palmer.
James Palmer @JamesPalmerTVThe <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Seahawks?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Seahawks</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Saints?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Saints</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Raiders?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Raiders</a> all tried to get into the top 10 for Michael Penix per sources.
The Falcons drafted Penix just over a month after signing veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to a four-year contract.
The Athletic's Dianna Russini reported that Cousins was "a bit stunned" by the Falcons' pick.
It seemed the Raiders, like Cousins, were also left stunned when they went on the clock at No. 13 with six quarterbacks already off the board.
Draft pundits have long expected Las Vegas to draft a quarterback with their first-round pick in order to bolster a quarterback room led by Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell.
With a record six quarterbacks already off the board within the top 12 picks, the Raiders turned to tight end Brock Bowers instead.
Raiders general manager Tom Telesco confirmed after the draft that the Raiders had considered trading up for a quarterback, but said the team had not tried "particularly hard."
"We looked into it... we kind of had a plan to maybe move up if the opportunity was there," Telesco said, per Sean Zittel for Vegas Sports Today. "It wasn't there, we kept moving."
The Saints drafted at No. 14, which they used to draft Oregon State offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga.
New Orleans head coach Dennis Allen expressed some surprise regarding the lack of signal callers available at the pick.
"We felt like there was going to be a run on quarterbacks," Allen said after the draft, per Matt DeGregorio of WLOX. "We didn't think it was going to be six. There's always picks that are kind of surprising."
Fuaga was the 14th straight offensive player selected in the draft, setting an all-time record.
The previous longest streak was seven offensive players chosen in a row at the top of the 2021 draft, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
After the Indianapolis Colts broke the streak at No. 15, the Seahawks also turned to defense by drafting Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy II.
Seattle had previously been tied to Penix, who was coached by Seahawks offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb for two seasons at Washington. Instead, general manager John Schneider went for a player he said led all defensive prospects on the team's draft board, per The Athletic's Michael-Shawn Dugar.
Meanwhile Penix is headed to Atlanta, where he will serve as a backup to Cousins as he returns from Achilles surgery next season.