Michael Penix Jr. Says He, Falcons' Kirk Cousins Spoke, Had 'Very Good Conversation'
Timothy Rapp@@TRappaRT
Featured Columnist IVApril 26, 2024
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.
"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_stapletonLine of the year from <a href="https://twitter.com/TomPelissero?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TomPelissero</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/gmfb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@gmfb</a> 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."
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.